red fox or common fox Either of two fox species: Vulpes vulpes, found throughout Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa, and V. fulva of North America. It has a red¬ dish brown coat; the tail is white-tipped, and the ears and legs are black. Red foxes are 36-42 in. (90-105 cm) long, including the 15-in. (38-cm) tail; they stand about 16 in. (40 cm) tall and weigh about 15 lb (7 kg). They eat small mammals, eggs, fruit, and birds. They are hunted for sport and for their fur and are raised commercially for pelts. North American red foxes exhibit black and silver colour phases.
Red Guards Paramilitary units of radical university and high-school students formed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Responding in 1966 to Mao Zedong’s call to revitalize the revolutionary spirit of the Chi¬ nese Communist Party, they went so far as to attempt to purge the country of its pre-Communist culture. With a membership in the millions, they attacked and persecuted local party leaders, schoolteachers, and other intellectuals. By early 1967 they had overthrown party authorities in many localities. Internal strife ensued as different units argued over which among them best represented Maoism. In 1968 their disruption of indus¬ trial production and urban life led the government to redirect them to the countryside, where the movement gradually subsided.
Red River Chinese Yuan Chiang \'ywan-'jyaq\ Vietnamese Song Hong Vsoq-'hoqV River, Southeast Asia. It rises in central Yunnan prov¬ ince, southern China, and flows southeast across northern Vietnam, past Hanoi, into the Gulf of Tonkin. The principal river of northern Vietnam, it is about 500 mi (805 km) long and has a wide, fertile delta east of Hanoi.
Red River River, south-central U.S. It rises in the high plains of east¬ ern New Mexico and flows southeast across Texas and Louisiana to a point northwest of Baton Rouge, where it enters the Atchafalaya River. It is 1,290 mi (2,080 km) long and forms a part of Texas’s borders with Oklahoma and Arkansas. In Texas it was the site of the Red River Indian War (1874).
Red River Indian War (1874-75) Uprising of Indian warriors from reservation tribes (Arapaho, Cheyenne, Comanche, Kiowa, and Kataka). After settlement of southwestern tribes on reservations in Oklahoma and
pottery that flourished from the late
Athenian red-figure cup, detail of a bearded reveler by the Brygos Painter, c. 490 bc; in the Louvre, Paris
J.E. BULLOZ
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Red River of the North ► Redon I 1599
Texas (1867), discontented braves broke out repeatedly to raid white trav¬ elers and settlers. An attack in 1874 killed 60 Texans. Federal troops under William T. Sherman converged on Indians concentrated in the Red River val¬ ley of Texas. Indian resistance forced 14 pitched battles with U.S. troops before the Indians’ eventual surrender and return to the reservations.
Red River of the North River, northern U.S. and southern Canada. It flows north, forming the Minnesota-North Dakota boundary, before entering Manitoba and emptying into Lake Winnipeg after a course of 545 mi (877 km). It was explored in 1732-33 by the French voyageur Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Verendrye. The river, named after the red¬ dish brown silt it carries, was a transportation link between Lake Win¬ nipeg and the Mississippi River system. The Red River Settlement, an agricultural colony, was founded in 1811 near Winnipeg. Its fertile val¬ ley produces cereals, potatoes, and sugar beets and supports cattle rais¬ ing.
red salmon See sockeye salmon
Red Sea Narrow inland sea between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. It extends southeast from Suez, Egypt, for about 1,200 mi (1,930 km) to the Strait of Mandeb, which connects with the Gulf of Aden and then with the Arabian Sea. It separates the coasts of Egypt, The Sudan, and Eritrea from those of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It contains some of the world’s warmest and saltiest seawater. With its connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, it is one of the most heavily traveled waterways in the world, carrying traffic between Europe and Asia. Its name is derived from the colour changes observed in its waters.
red soil Any of a group of soils that develop in a warm, temperate, moist climate under deciduous or mixed forests and that have thin organic and organic-mineral layers overlying a yellowish-brown leached layer resting on an illuvial (see illuviation) red layer. Red soils generally form from iron-rich sedimentary rock. They are usually poor growing soils, low in nutrients and humus and difficult to cultivate.
red spider See spider mite
Red Square Large public square, central Moscow. It lies north of the Moskva River, adjacent to the Kremlin, and covers some 18 acres (7.3 hectares). Dating from the late 15th century, it has long been a busy mar¬ ket area as well as a focal point in Russian history as the scene of execu¬ tions, demonstrations, riots, and parades. Located around it are the State Historical Museum (1875-81), the nine-towered Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed (1554-60), the former state department store GUM, and the tomb of Vladimir Ilich Lenin. The square and Kremlin were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1990.
red tide Discoloration of seawater caused by dinoflagellates during peri¬ odic blooms (population increases). Toxic substances released by these organisms into the water may be lethal to fish and other marine life, and they irritate the human respiratory system. Coastal resorts sometimes close when breaking waves release the toxic substances into the air. The causes of red tide are uncertain; it may require the confluence of several natural phenomena, in which human influence may or may not play a part.
Red Turbans Peasant rebel movement of the mid-14th century that flourished in northern China at the end of the Yuan dynasty (1206-1368). The Red Turbans, whose leader was regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva Maitreya, were opposed to alien Mongol rule; their movement gained momentum from the famine that resulted from crop failures and floods in the 1330s. Their maraud¬ ing, which began in the 1350s, took them as far as Korea, where their incursions contributed to the down¬ fall of the Koryo dynasty. Though their rebellion was put down, rival rebel forces under Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-98) toppled the Yuan dynasty and founded the Ming. See also Hongwu emperor.
redbird See cardinal
redbud Any of the shrubs or small trees that make up the genus Cercis
(family Leguminosae), native to Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) North America, southern Europe, kenneth and brenda formanek/eb inc. and Asia, and widely planted for
their showy early-spring flowers and interesting branch patterns. Clusters of small, purplish-pink flowers appear on old stems and branches before the leaves unfurl. The heart-shaped to roundish leaves quickly turn from bronzy to bright green, then to yellow in fall. The eastern redbud (C. canadensis ) is the hardiest species.
redfish or rosefish or ocean perch Commercially important food fish ( Sebastes marinus) of the scorpion fish family (Scorpaenidae), found in the Atlantic along European and North American coasts. It has a large mouth, large eyes, and spines on its head and cheeks. It grows to about 40 in. (1 m) long. Related species include S. owstoni, a food fish of the Orient, and the Norway haddock ( S. viviparus) of Europe. Both are red and grow to about 10 in. (25 cm) long.
Redford (Jr.), (Charles) Robert (b. Aug. 18, 1937, Santa Monica, Calif., U.S.) U.S. film actor and director. He made his Broadway debut in 1959 and won acclaim in Barefoot in the Park (1963; film, 1967). The blond, appealing Redford began acting in films in the mid-1960s. He appeared with Paul Newman in the hits Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Sting (1973) and also starred in The Candidate (1972), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), All the President’s Men (1976), The Natural (1984), Out of Africa (1985), and Indecent Proposal (1993). His directo¬ rial debut, Ordinary People (1980, Academy Award), was followed by The Milagro Beanfield War (1988), A River Runs Through It (1992), Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998), and The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000). He received an honorary Academy Award in 2001. In 1980 he founded the Sundance Institute to sponsor young filmmakers’ works, and by the 1990s its film festival was the major showcase for U.S. inde¬ pendent films.