Baltic languages Branch of the Indo-European language family that includes three attested languages, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Old Prussian. They were or are spoken along the eastern and southeastern shore and hinterlands of the Baltic Sea. Medieval chronicles report four other Baltic¬ speaking peoples in the region, though by the 16th century these peoples had been completely assimilated. Baltic has certain striking features in common with Savic languages, though the deep divisions within Baltic itself, among other factors, make the hypothesis of a common Balto- Slavic protolanguage difficult to defend.
Baltic religion Ancient beliefs and practices of the Balts of Eastern Europe. They are believed to give evidence of a common source with Vedic and Iranian religion. The most important Baltic divinities were sky gods: Dievs (the sky), Perkons (the thunderer), Saule (sun goddess), and Meness (moon god). A forest divinity, the Mother of the Forest, was common to all Baltic peoples and was differentiated into goddesses that personified various aspects of nature. Destiny or luck was personified as the goddess Laima, who determined a person’s fate at the moment of birth. The dead were thought to revisit the world as good or evil spirits; evil was also done by the devil. Veins, and by a werewolf-like creature known as Vilka- cis or Vilkatas. The structure of the world, with the world tree at its cen¬ ter, and the enmity between Saule and Meness are important themes. Festivals marked the summer solstice, the harvest, marriages, and funer¬ als. Worship was conducted at holy groves and small hills; excavations have also revealed circular wooden temples.
Baltic Sea Sea, northern Europe. An arm of the Atlantic Ocean, con¬ necting with the North Sea, it is about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) long, covers an area of about 149,000 sq mi (386,000 sq km), and has a maximum depth of about 1,500 ft (450 m). It receives the Vistula and Oder rivers and many other rivers. It is enclosed by Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Esto¬ nia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, and Russia. It has two large arms, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland. The modifying effect of the North Atlantic Current is scarcely felt; its waters contain only about one-fourth as much salt as the oceans, and it freezes readily.
Baltic States Republics of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, situated on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. The name has sometimes been used to include Finland and Poland. They were created as independent states in 1917 from the Baltic provinces of Russia, the city of Kovno, and part of the Polish department of Wilno (later Lithuania). With the aid of German and Allied forces, the Baltic states repelled a Bolshevik invasion in 1919. In 1940 they were forcibly occupied by the Soviet Union and incorpo-
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Baltimore ► Banbridge I 159
rated as constituent republics. In 1944 Soviet troops recovered the terri¬ tory overrun by German forces in 1941. The Baltic states gained independence on the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Baltimore, David (b. March 7, 1938, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. virologist. He received his doctorate from the Rockefeller Institute. He and Howard Temin (1934-94), working independently, discovered an enzyme that synthesizes DNA from RNA, the reverse of the usual pro¬ cess. This enzyme, reverse transcriptase, has become an invaluable tool in recombinant DNA technology. The research of Baltimore, Temin, and Renato Dulbecco helped illuminate the role of viruses in cancer; the three men shared a Nobel Prize in 1975. In 1990 Baltimore became president of Rockefeller University; in 1997 he became president of the California Institute of Technology.
Baltimore (of Baltimore), George Calvert, 1st Baron (b.
1578/79, Kipling, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. April 15, 1632) English colonial¬ ist. He served in the House of Commons from 1621; charged with com¬ municating the policy of James I, he was distrusted by Parliament. After declaring himself a Roman Catholic (1625), he gave up his office and was created Baron Baltimore, receiving land grants in Ireland. To assure the prosperity of his New World holdings, he took his family to his New¬ foundland colony in 1628. Because of conflict over his Catholicism and the severe climate, he petitioned Charles I for a land grant in the Chesa¬ peake Bay area. He died before the charter was granted, and his son Cecil became proprietor of the colony of Maryland.
Baltimore City (pop., 2000: 651,154), north-central Maryland, U.S. Located at the head of the Patapsco River estuary, 15 mi (24 km) above Chesapeake Bay, it is Maryland’s largest city and economic hub. Estab¬ lished in 1729, it was named after the Irish barony of Baltimore (seat of the Calvert family, proprietors of the colony of Maryland). It became the first U.S. Roman Catholic diocese in 1789. In 1827 the nation’s first rail¬ road began operations there. In World War I, Baltimore began to develop industrially, and it has since become a major seaport.
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) First steam-operated rail¬ way in the U.S. to be chartered as a common carrier of freight and pas¬ sengers (1827). The B&O was established by Baltimore merchants to foster trade with the West. By 1852 the railroad extended to Wheeling, Va. (now W.V.), and in the next two decades it reached Chicago, Ill., and St. Louis, Mo. The B&O’s long-distance passenger trains were discon¬ tinued in 1971 after Amtrak was established. Many of B&O’s operations were assumed by the CSX Corp. in 1980.
Baltimore Sun Daily newspaper published in Baltimore, Md., U.S. It was begun as a four-page penny tabloid in 1837 by Arunah Shepherdson Abell, a journeyman printer from Rhode Island. Known through much of its history for its coverage of national and international news, the paper was run by Abell’s family until 1910, when control passed to a group of Baltimore businessmen, including H. Crawford Black. Members of Black’s family were chairmen of the board until 1984. In 1986 the Sun was acquired by the Times Mirror Company, which in turn was acquired by the Tribune Company in 2000. Author H.L. Mencken was for years prominently associated with the Sun.
Baluba See Luba Baluchistan See Balochistan
Balzac \bal-'zak\, Honore de orig. Honore Balssa (b. May 20,
1799, Tours, France—d. Aug. 18, 1850, Paris) French writer. Balzac began working as a clerk in Paris at about age 16. An early attempt at a business career left him with huge debts, and for decades he toiled inces¬ santly to improve his worsening financial condition. In 1829 his novels and stories began to achieve some success, and his early masterpieces soon followed. In a vast series he collectively called The Human Com¬ edy , eventually numbering some 90 novels and novellas, he sought to produce a comprehensive picture of contemporary society by presenting all the varieties of human nature. Among his masterpieces are Eugenie Grandet (1833), Pere Goriot (1835), Lost Illusions (1837-43), A Harlot High and Low (1843-47), and Cousin Bette (1846). His novels are notable for their great narrative drive, their large casts of vital and diverse char¬ acters, and their obsessive interest in and examination of virtually all spheres of life. His best-known story collection is his Droll Stories, 3 vol. (1832-37). His tumultuous life was one of mounting debts and almost incessant toil, with frequent bouts of writing feverishly for 15 hours at a stretch (his death has been attributed to overwork and excessive coffee