Royal National Theatre British theatre company. It was formed in 1962 as the National Theatre with Laurence Olivier as director (1963-73) and included many actors from the Old Vic company. In 1976 the com¬ pany moved from London’s Old Vic Theatre to a newly constructed three- theatre complex on the southern bank of the Thames. In 1988 Queen Elizabeth II gave the company permission to add “Royal” to its name. Partly subsidized by the state, the theatre presents a mixed classic and modern repertoire. Its directors have included Peter Hall (1973-88), Rich¬ ard Eyre (1988-97), Trevor Nunn (1997-2003), and Nicholas Hytner (from 2003).
Royal Navy Naval branch of the armed forces of the United Kingdom. Organized sea power was first used in England by Alfred the Great, who launched ships to repel a Viking invasion. In the 16th century Henry VIII built a fleet of fighting ships armed with large guns and created a naval administration. Under Elizabeth I the navy developed into Britain’s major defense and became the means for extending the British Empire around the globe. The maritime forces were given the name Royal Navy by Charles II. In the 18th century it engaged in a long struggle with the French for maritime supremacy, and it later played a key role in Britain’s stand against Napoleon. For the rest of the 19th century, it helped enforce what became known as the Pax Britannica, the long period of relative peace in Europe that depended on British maritime supremacy. It remained the world’s most powerful navy until the mid-20th century, and it was active in protecting shipping from submarine attack in World Wars I and II. Today it maintains four fighting forces: conventional and nuclear-armed submarines, various surface vessels, naval aircraft, and the Royal Marines. Officers are trained at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon. At the start of the 21st century some 42,000 personnel were in service.
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) Major British theatrical company. It was originally attached to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, which opened in 1879 as the site of an annual festival of William Shakespeare’s plays. The resident company was called the Shakespeare Memorial Company until 1961, when it was renamed and reorganized into two units, one to play at Stratford and the other to be based in London. The Stratford unit performs plays by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan and Jacobean playwrights, while the London unit also performs modern plays and classics of other eras. Plays are produced in Newcastle as well.
Royal Society (of London for Improving Natural Knowl¬ edge) Leading scientific society in Britain and the oldest national sci¬ entific society in the world. Founded in 1660, its early members included Robert Hooke, Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton, and Edmond Halley. It has long provided an impetus to scientific thought and research in the U.K., and its achievements have become internationally famous. The society’s Philosophical Transactions, the oldest scientific periodical in continuous publication, has published papers since 1665. The society awards several prizes, the most prestigious being the Copley Medal. At the beginning of the 21st century, the society had some 1,300 fellows and 130 foreign members.
Royall \'roi-9l\, Anne Newport orig. Anne Newport (b. June 11, 1769, New Baltimore, Md.—d. Oct. 1, 1854, Washington, D.C., U.S.) U.S. writer, generally considered the nation’s first newspaperwoman. Royall
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Royce ► Rubicon I 1649
journeyed across the country and during 1826-31 published 10 accounts of her travels, which remain valuable sources of social history. An eccentric and acerbic woman, she was convicted in Washington, D.C., in 1829 of being a “common scold,” the result of her antagonism to a local Presbyte¬ rian church. In 1831 she began to publish her outspoken and controversial views on various subjects in her Washington newspaper, Paul Pry (1831- 36), which was succeeded by The Huntress (1836-54).
Royce, Josiah (b. Nov. 20, 1855, Grass Valley, Calif., U.S.—d. Sept. 14, 1916, Cambridge, Mass.) U.S. philosopher. He studied under William James and Charles Sanders Peirce at Johns Hopkins University. After teaching English at the University of California for four years, he accepted a position at Harvard University (1882), where he remained until his death. An absolute idealist in the Hegelian tradition, he stressed the unity of human thought with the external world. His idealism also extended to religion, the basis of which he conceived to be human loyalty. In his words, the highest good would be achieved by “the willing and practical and thoroughgoing devotion of a person to a cause.” A diverse thinker, he also made contributions to psychology, social ethics, literary criticism, history, and metaphysics. His many books include The Religious Aspect of Philosophy (1885), The Spirit of Modern Philosophy (1892), Studies of Good and Evil (1898), The World and the Individual (1900-01), and The Philosophy of Loyalty (1908). His emphasis on individuality and will over intellect strongly influenced 20th-century American philosophy.
Royko, Mike orig. Michael Royko (b. Sept. 19, 1932, Chicago, Ill., U.S.—d. April 29, 1997, Chicago) U.S. columnist. Royko cut short his college education to serve in the air force during the Korean War. In 1959 he joined the Chicago Daily News, becoming a full-time columnist in 1964. His irreverent, acerbic, and insightful political and social essays reflected his working-class ethnic origins, often exposing injustices vis¬ ited on ordinary people. He later moved to the Chicago Sun-Times and then to the Chicago Tribune. His widely syndicated column earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1972. He published collections of his columns and the best-selling Boss (1971), on Richard J. Daley.
Royster, Vermont (Connecticut) (b. April 30, 1914, Raleigh, N.C., U.S.—d. July 22, 1996, Raleigh) U.S. journalist. Royster joined The Wall Street Journal as a Washington correspondent in 1936. After serving in the navy during World War II he returned to the Journal, becoming edi¬ tor (1958-71) and senior vice president (1960-71) of its publishing com¬ pany, Dow Jones & Co., before retiring in 1971. As editor emeritus, he wrote a weekly column, “Thinking Things Over” until 1986. He was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes (1953, 1984) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986).
Rozelle, Pete orig. Alvin Ray Rozelle (b. March 1, 1926, South Gate, Calif., U.S.—d. Dec. 6, 1996, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) U.S. sports executive and commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). He graduated from the University of San Francisco and initially worked in public relations. Named commissioner in 1960, he doubled the league’s size, helped create the Super Bowl, and negotiated lucrative television deals with the networks. In 1966 Rozelle secured an agreement to merge the NFL with the rival American Football League. In 1970 he persuaded ABC to broadcast Monday Night Football, which proved a huge success. NFL attendance more than tripled during his tenure, which lasted until
RU-486 Common name for mifepristone, a drug used in the first sev¬ eral weeks of pregnancy for inducing abortion. RU-486 blocks the recep¬ tors for progesterone, a hormone necessary for the maintenance of pregnancy. The drug causes the breakdown of the uterine lining, which, along with the embryo, is shed through the vagina. It has been available in France for the termination of early pregnancy since 1988 and was approved for use in the U.S. in 2000. The name RU-486 is derived from the manufacturer Roussel-Uclaf and a serial number.
Ruanda-Urundi Vru-'an-da-u-'rtin-deX Former territory, east-central Africa. It was administered by Belgium from 1922 to 1962, during which time it was reconstituted (1946) as a UN trust territory. It was part of the Belgian Congo from 1925 to 1960. In 1962 it was divided into the inde¬ pendent states of Rwanda and Burundi.