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Berra Vber-oX, Yogi orig. Lawrence Peter Berra (b. May 12,1925, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.) U.S. baseball player, manager, and coach. Berra joined the New York Yankees in 1946 and served as the team’s regular catcher from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. He was named the Ameri¬ can League’s Most Valuable Player in 1951, 1954, and 1955. He caught in more World Series games (75) than any other catcher and hit 20 or more home runs a season through 1958. He managed the Yankees in 1964 but was fired and became a coach and manager (1965-75) with the New York Mets. He returned to the Yankees as a coach (1976-82) and later manager (1983-85). He was known for idiosyncratic remarks such as “It ain’t over till it’s over” and “It’s deja vu all over again.” The American cartoon character Yogi Bear was named for him.

Berrigan, Daniel (Joseph) and Philip (Francis) (respectively b. May 9, 1921, Virginia, Minn., U.S.(b. Oct. 5, 1923, Two Harbors, Minn., U.S.) —d. Dec. 6, 2002, Baltimore, Md.) U.S. priests and political activ¬ ists. After joining the Catholic priesthood (Daniel became a Jesuit, Philip a Josephite), the brothers became involved in nonviolent political activ¬ ism, carrying out campaigns of civil disobedience to oppose racism, the nuclear arms race, and the Vietnam War. They were best known for their Vietnam-era raid of draft-board files in Catonsville, Md., which they destroyed with chicken blood and napalm. They were also known for the persistence of their activism. Philip later left the priesthood. Both authored numerous books on their work and beliefs; Daniel also wrote poetry and plays.

Berruguete, Alonso (b. c. 1488, Paredes de Nava, Castile—d. 1561, Toledo, Castile) Spanish sculptor and painter. His father, Pedro Berruguete, was a great Renaissance painter. Alonso worked in Florence and Rome c. 1508-16. In 1516 he returned to Spain, and in 1518 he became court painter to Charles V. He succeeded primarily as a sculptor, however, and became known for his intensely emotional Mannerist sculptures of figures portrayed in spiritual torment or in transports of religious ecstasy. His best-known work is a set of wooden reliefs with highly expressive fig¬ ures for choir stalls in Toledo Cathedral (1539-43). Berruguete’s use of a rather rich and extravagant but delicate ornamentation in his church decorations is typical of Spain’s Plateresque style. He is considered the greatest Spanish sculptor of the 16th century.

Berruguete \,ber-u-'ga-ta\, Pedro or Pedro Espanol or Pietro Spagnuolo X.span-yo-'wo-loX (b. c. 1450, Paredes de Nava, Castile—d. Jan. 6, 1504, Avila, Castile) Spanish painter. After a sojourn in Italy, he returned to Spain, where he painted numerous altarpieces and also worked as a fresco painter in Toledo Cathedral (1483-99). The influence of Flem¬ ish and Italian art is evident in his panel paintings, which are character¬ ized by luxurious ornament and gold decoration. He was the first great Renaissance painter in Spain. His son Alonso Berruguete was a sculptor and painter.

Berry \be-'re\ Historical region and former province, central France. It was originally inhabited by the Bituriges Cubi, who opposed Vercinge- torix. Under Roman rule it was part of Aquitania Prima. A countship in the Carolingian period, it fell to the French crown in the 12th century. When Aquitaine was acquired by Henry II of England, Berry became a matter of dispute between England and France. As a duchy, at one time it came under Jean de France, duke de Berry, an important patron of the arts. It returned to France in 1601 and remained a province until 1790.

berry Simple, fleshy fruit that usually has many seeds (e.g., the banana, tomato, or cranberry). The middle and inner layers of the fruit wall often are not distinct from each other. Any small, fleshy fruit is popularly called a berry, especially if it is edible. Raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries are not true berries, but rather aggregate fruits—fruits that consist of mul¬ tiple smaller fruits. The date is a one-seeded berry whose stone is hard nutritive tissue.

Berry, Chuck orig. Charles Edward Anderson Berry (b. Oct. 18, 1926, St. Louis, Mo., U.S. ) U.S. singer-songwriter. Though first

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208 I Berry ► beryllium

interested in country music, in the early 1950s Berry led a blues trio that played in black nightclubs around St. Louis. In 1955 he traveled to Chi¬ cago and made his first hit record, “Maybellene,” which was soon fol¬ lowed by “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Johnny B. Goode,” “Rock and Roll Music,” and “Roll Over, Beethoven.” He was one of the first to shape big-beat blues into what came to be called rock and roll (see rock music) and to achieve widespread popularity with white audiences. After two tri¬ als tainted by racist overtones, in 1959 he began a five-year prison sen¬ tence for immoral behaviour. In 1972 he achieved his first number one hit, “My Ding-A-Ling.” He continued to perform into the 1990s. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones were among the many rock bands greatly influenced by Berry.

Berry, Jean de France, duke de (b. Nov. 30, 1340, Vincennes, France—d. June 15, 1416, Paris) French nobleman and patron of the arts. He was the son of King John II. As duke de Berry and Auvergne, he con¬ trolled at least one-third of France during the middle period of the Hun¬ dred Years' War. Berry shared in the administration of France and worked for peace with England and within France, acting as diplomat and media¬ tor. He invested fortunes in the art treasures that became his monument— paintings, tapestries, jewelry, and illuminated manuscripts that included the famous Tres Riches Heures du due de Berry.

Berry \be-‘re\, Jean de France, duke de orig. Charles- Ferdinand de Bourbon (b. Jan. 24,1778, Versailles, France—d. Feb. 14, 1820, Paris) French nobleman. Son of the future Charles X, he left France at the outbreak of the French Revolution and lived abroad until 1815. His assassination by a Bonapartist fanatic marked a turning point in the Bourbon Restoration, hastening the downfall of the moderate Decazes government and the polarization into liberal and royalist groups.

berserker (from Old Norse beserkr, “bearskin”) In premedieval and medieval Norse and Germanic history and folklore, any member of unruly warrior gangs that worshiped Odin and attached themselves to royal and noble courts as bodyguards and shock troops. They raped and murdered at will in their host communities, and their savagery in battle and animal- skin attire (they are also said to have fought naked) contributed to the development of the werewolf legend in Europe.

Bert VberX, Paul (b. Oct. 17, 1833, Auxerre, Yonne, France—d. Nov. 11, 1886, Hanoi) French physiologist, founder of modern aerospace medi¬ cine. He taught for many years at the Sorbonne and served as a deputy in the government from 1872-86. His research on the effects of air pressure on the body helped make possible the exploration of space and the ocean depths. Bert found the main cause of altitude sickness to be low atmo¬ spheric oxygen content and showed decompression sickness to be due to nitrogen bubbles formed in the blood during rapid drops in external pres¬ sure.

Bertelsmann AG German media company. Beginning as a religious printer and publisher in 1835, the company grew steadily over the next century. Though virtually destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945, it recov¬ ered quickly after World War II. By 1998 Bertelsmann AG had grown to include more than 300 media companies, with more than half its employ¬

ees in countries other than Germany. Its worldwide acquisitions have included the U.S. publishers Bantam Doubleday Dell and Random House. By the early 21st century the company was among the world’s largest media conglomerates.

Berthelot \ber-t3-'lo\, (Pierre-Eugene-) Marcellin (b. Oct. 27, 1827, Paris, France—d. March 18, 1907, Paris) French chemist. The first professor of organic chemistry at the College de France (from 1865), he later also held high government offices, including that of foreign minis¬ ter (1895-96). He did research in alcohols and carboxylic acids, the syn¬ thesis of hydrocarbons, and reaction rates, studied the mechanism of explosion, discovered many coal-tar derivatives, and wrote on the history of early chemistry. He was a pioneer in the use of chemical analysis as a tool of archaeology. His work helped break down the traditional division between organic and inorganic compounds. He opposed the then-current idea that a “vital force” is responsible for synthesis and was one of the first to prove that all chemical phenomena depend on physical forces that can be measured.