Victoria Nile River that forms the upper section of the Nile River. Some 260 mi (420 km) long, it issues from the northern end of Lake Victoria, then flows over the Owen Falls Dam, through Lake Kyoga, and over Kabalega Falls (118 ft [36 m]) before entering the northeastern corner of Lake Albert. It is about 300 mi (480 km) long.
Victoria River Longest river in Northern Territory, Australia. The Vic¬ toria River flows northwest for about 350 mi (560 km) to enter the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf of the Timor Sea. Its last 100 mi (160 km) are tidal. Cap¬ tain J.C. Wickham of HMS Beagle reached the river in 1839 and named it in honour of Queen Victoria.
Victoria Strait Channel of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between southeastern Victoria Island and King William Island, off the northern Canada mainland in Nunavut. At about 100 mi (160 km) long and from 50-80 mi (80-130 km) wide, it connects Queen Maud Gulf with McClin- tock Channel and Franklin Strait.
vicuna Wi-’kiin-yo, vl-'kii-noX South American lamoid (see alpaca), the smallest species ( Vicugna vicugna) in the camel family, found in semiarid grasslands of the central Andes at altitudes of 12,000-16,000 ft (3,600- 4,800 m). The remarkably long, soft, lustrous coat is cinnamon to white; a dense, silky, white fleece hangs from the flanks and base of the neck. Vicunas are about 36 in. (90 cm) high and weigh over 100 lbs (50 kg). Small bands of females, led by a male, graze on low grasses, ruminate while at rest, and spit often and noisily. They mark their territory with communal dung heaps. Vicunas are untamable but have been hunted for centuries; they are now protected as an endangered species.
Vidal Vve-.dal, ve-'dal. Gore orig. Eugene Luther Vidal (b. Oct. 3, 1925, West Point, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist, playwright, and essayist. Vidal began publishing his writings soon after his wartime army service. Though he wrote stage plays and television and film screenplays, he is best known for his irreverent and intellectually adroit novels. The City and the Pillar (1948) became notorious for its homoerotic subject mat¬ ter. Myra Breckenridge (1968) was acclaimed for its wild satire. His other novels, many of them historical and most of them best-sellers, include Julian (1964), Washington, D.C. (1967), Burr (1974), 1876 (1976), and Lincoln (1984). He also published several essay collections and the mem¬ oir Palimpsest (1996). Known for his iconoclastically leftist political analyses, he twice ran unsuccessfully for Congressional office.
video card Integrated circuit that generates the video signal sent to a computer display. The card is usually located on the computer mother-
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videocassette recorder ► Viet Cong I 2003
board or is a separate circuit board, but is sometimes built into the com¬ puter display unit. It contains a digital-to-analog module, as well as memory chips that store display data. All video cards (also known as video adapters, video boards, and video controllers) adhere to a display stan¬ dard, such as SVGA or XGA.
videocassette recorder See VCR
videodisc Rigid circular plate of either metal or plastic used to record video and audio signals for playback. It resembles a phonograph record and can be played on a machine attached to a conventional television receiver. There are two major classes of videodiscs, magnetic and non¬ magnetic. Magnetic videodiscs have an oxide-coated surface onto which input signals are recorded as magnetic patterns in spiral tracks. Nonmag¬ netic videodiscs use either a mechanical recording system analogous to that used in phonograph records, or optical technology that uses a laser to read data coded as a sequence of pits on the disc. The most common type of videodisc today is the DVD.
videotape Magnetic tape used to record visual images and sound, or the recording itself. There are two types of videotape recorders, the trans¬ verse (or quad) and the helical. The transverse unit uses four heads rotat¬ ing on an axis perpendicular to the direction in which the tape is fed. The transverse format achieves 1,500-in.-per-minute head-to-tape speed, nec¬ essary for high picture quality. The helical unit uses tape traveling around a drum in the form of a helix. VCRs use a helical format, known as VHS (Video Home System), consisting of two helical bands and tape 1/2 in. (1 cm) wide.
Vidor Vve-dor\, King (Wallis) (b. Feb. 8, 1894, Galveston, Texas, U.S.—d. Nov. 1, 1982, Paso Robles, Calif.) U.S. film director. He worked as a prop boy, scriptwriter, newsreel cameraman, and assistant director before directing his first feature film, The Turn in the Road (1919). He won acclaim for The Big Parade (1925) and The Crowd (1928), consid¬ ered a silent-movie classic. His films, which deal with themes such as idealism and disillusionment in contemporary life, include the first all- African American film, Hallelujah! (1929), as well as Our Daily Bread (1934) and The Citadel (1938). His later movies include the western epic Duel in the Sun (1946), The Fountainhead (1949), and War and Peace
(1956).
Vieira \'vya-e-re\, Antonio (b. Feb. 6, 1608, Lisbon, Port.—d. July 18, 1697, Salvador, Braz.) Portuguese-bom Brazilian missionary, orator, diplomat, and writer. He was raised in Brazil, where he became a Jesuit priest. His sermons exhorting all races to join in repelling Dutch invad¬ ers are considered the first expression of the Brazilian concept of form¬ ing a new race of mixed blood. He worked among the Indians and black slaves until 1641, mastering several of their languages. Returning to Por¬ tugal, he became an important figure in the court of John IV, where he advocated toleration for Jewish converts to Christianity. He was impris¬ oned by the Inquisition (1665-67) but returned to Brazil in 1681.
Vienna German Wien City (pop., 2001: 1,550,123; metro, area, 1,825,287), capital of Austria. Located on the Danube River, it was founded by the Celts; it became a Roman military station in the 1st century bc. Ruled by many—including the Franks in the 6th century ad and the Magyars in the 10th century—Vienna was an important trade centre during the Cru¬ sades. It was the seat of the Holy Roman Empire (1558-1806), of the Austrian (and Habsburg) Empire (1806-67), and of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918. In 1814—15 it was the seat of the Congress of Vienna. The administrative centre of German Austria (1938-45), it was frequently bombed during World War II by the Allies, and the city was taken by Soviet troops in 1945. It was under joint Soviet-Western Allied occupation from 1945 to 1955. The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the U.S. and Soviet Union took place in Vienna in the 1970s. The commercial and industrial centre of Austria, it also is a cultural centre renowned for its architecture and music. It was the birthplace of the composers Franz Schu¬ bert, Johann Strauss (the Younger), and Arnold Schoenberg, and the home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, and Gustav Mahler. It also was the home of Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Josef Hoffmann. Vienna is the headquarters of many inter¬ national organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN Industrial Development Organization, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Vienna, Congress of (1814-15) Assembly that reorganized Europe after the Napoleonic Wars. The powers of the Quadruple Alliance had con¬
cluded the Treaty of Chaumont just before Napoleon’s first abdication and agreed to meet later in Vienna. There they were joined by Bourbon France as a major participant and by Sweden and Portugal; many minor states also sent representatives. The principal negotiators were Klemens, prince von Metternich, representing Francis II (Austria); Alexander I (Russia); Fred¬ erick William III and Karl August, prince von Hardenberg (Prussia); Vis¬ count Castlereagh (Britain); and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand (France). The Congress reduced France to its 1789 borders. A new kingdom of Poland, under Russian sovereignty, was established. To check possible future aggression by France, its neighbours were strengthened: the king¬ dom of The Netherlands acquired Belgium, Prussia gained territory along the Rhine River, and the Italian kingdom acquired Genoa. The German states were joined loosely in a new German Confederation, subject to Austria’s influence. For its part in the defeat of Napoleon, Britain acquired valuable colonies, including Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon. The Vienna settlement was the most comprehensive treaty that Europe had ever seen, and the configuration of Europe established at the congress lasted for more than 40 years.