Bishkek \bish-'kek\ or Pishpek \pish-'pek\ formerly (1926-91) Frunze \'friin-zi\ City (pop., 1999 est.: 619,000), capital of Kyrgyzstan. It lies on the Chu River near the Kyrgyz Mountains on the Kazakhstan border. In 1825 the Uzbek khanate of Kokand (see Qo'qon) established a fortress on the site, which in 1862 was captured by the Russians. The Russians mistakenly called it Pishpek. When the Kirgiz (Kyrgyz) Autono¬ mous Soviet Socialist Republic was set up in 1926, the city became its capital and was renamed Frunze for a Red Army leader who was born there. It developed as an industrial city, especially in World War II (1939— 45) when heavy industries from western Russia were moved there.
bishop In some Christian churches, the chief pastor and overseer of a diocese, an area containing several congregations. From the 4th century ad until the Reformation, bishops held broad secular and religious pow¬ ers, including the settling of disputes, ordination of clergy, and confirma¬ tion of church members. Some Christian churches (notably the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches) continue the bishop’s office and the doctrine of Apostolic succession. Others, including some Lutheran and Methodist churches, retain bishops but not the principle of apostolic succession; still others have abolished the office altogether. Popes, cardinals, archbishops, patriarchs, and metropolitans are gradations of bishops. In Roman Catholicism, the pope selects the bishop; in Angli¬ canism, the dean and chapter of the cathedral of the diocese elect the bishop; in Methodism a synod chooses the bishop. See also episcopacy.
Bishop, Elizabeth (b. Feb. 8, 1911, Worcester, Mass., U.S.—d. Oct. 6, 1979, Boston, Mass.) U.S. poet. Bishop was reared by relatives in Nova Scotia, Can., after her father died and her mother was institutionalized. In the 1950s and ’60s she lived principally in Brazil with the Brazilian woman she loved. Her first book of poems (1946) contrasts her New England origins and her love of hot climates; reprinted with additions as North & South: A Cold Spring (1955), it received the Pulitzer Prize. Her works are celebrated for their formal brilliance and their close observa¬ tions of everyday reality. They have elicited much admiration from other poets. Posthumous publications include The Collected Prose (1984) and One Art (1994), a collection of her letters.
Bishop, J(ohn) Michael (b. Feb. 22, 1936, York, Pa., U.S.) U.S. virologist. He graduated from Harvard Medical School. In 1970 he and Harold Varmus tested the theory that healthy body cells contain oncogenes (cancer-causing genes). Further research showed that such genes can cause cancer even without viral involvement. By 1989, the year Bishop and Varmus shared a Nobel Prize for their research, scientists had iden¬ tified more than 40 oncogenes in animals.
Bishop, William Avery known as Billy Bishop (b. Feb. 8, 1894, Owen Sound, Ont., Can.—d. Sept. 11, 1956, West Palm Beach, Fla., U.S.) Canadian World War I fighter ace. Educated at the Royal Military Col¬
lege, he transferred from the cavalry to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. While serving in France in 1917, he shot down 72 enemy aircraft, includ¬ ing 25 in one 10-day period. He was appointed to the staff of the British Air Ministry and helped form the Royal Canadian Air Force as a sepa¬ rate brigade. After the war he became a businessman and writer.
Bishop's University Privately endowed university in Lennoxville, Quebec, Canada, founded in 1843. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, business, and education.
BIsitun N.be-si-'tunX ancient Behestun Town and historic site, western Iran. On a limestone cliff above the present village is a bas-relief and series of inscriptions purportedly commissioned by the Achaemenian king Darius the Great (r. 522-486 bc); inscriptions in Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite record how Darius killed a usurper, defeated rebel forces, and assumed the throne. The inscriptions were first copied (1837-47) by Sir Henry Rawlinson (1810-95), an officer of the East India Company The deciphering of the Old Persian was a major advance in the study of cunei¬ form WRITING.
bisj Vbis-e\ pole Carved wooden pole used in the religious rites of the South Pacific islands. The poles, 12-26 ft (4-8 m) tall, resemble an upended canoe with an exaggerated prow; they consist of carved figures placed one atop the other (thought to represent deceased ancestors) and terminate in a flat projection of ornate, openwork ornament. They are intended to harbour the souls of the dead, keeping them away from the village, and are also used to transmit magical powers. See also totem pole.
Bismarck Vbiz-.markV City (pop., 2000: 55,532), capital of North Dakota, U.S. It was settled as a Missouri River port in the 1830s. In 1872 a military post was established to protect railway workers, and in 1873 it was named for Otto von Bismarck in the hope of attracting German invest¬ ment. With the discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills, it became a prospecting centre. In 1883 it was made the capital of Dakota Territory; when the territory was divided into two states in 1889, Bismarck became the capital of the northern state. Today it is the region’s business, cultural, and financial centre.
Bismarck German battleship of World War II. The formidable 52,600- ton (47,700-metric-ton) vessel was launched in 1939. British reconnais¬ sance aircraft sighted it off Bergen, Norway, in May 1941, and almost the entire British home fleet was sent to intercept it. Two cruisers engaged it near Iceland, and the Bismarck destroyed the Hood before escaping to the open sea. Sighted 30 hours later, it was torpedoed and then bombarded by battleships throughout the night. The King George V and the Rodney crippled it in an hour-long attack, and it was finally sunk by torpedoes from the cruiser Dorsetshire.
Bismarck, Otto (Eduard Leopold), prince von (b. April 1,1815, Schonhausen, Altmark, Prussia—d. July 30, 1898, Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg) Prussian statesman who founded the German Empire in 1871 and served as its chancellor for 19 years. Born into the Prussian landown¬ ing elite, Bismarck studied law and was elected to the Prussian Diet in 1849. In 1851 he was appointed Prussian representative to the federal Diet in Frankfurt. After serving as ambassador to Russia (1859-62) and France (1862), he became prime minister and foreign minister of Prussia (1862— 71). When he took office, Prussia was widely considered the weakest of the five European powers, but under his leadership Prussia won a war against Denmark in 1864 (see Schleswig-Holstein Question), the Seven Weeks' War (1866), and the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). Through these wars he achieved his goal of political unification of a Prussian- dominated German Empire. Once the empire was established, he became its chancellor. The “Iron Chancellor” skillfully preserved the peace in Europe through alliances against France (see Three Emperors' League; Rein¬ surance Treaty; Triple Alliance). Domestically, he introduced administrative and economic reforms but sought to preserve the status quo, opposing the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic church (see Kulturkampf). When Bismarck left office in 1890, the map of Europe had been changed immea¬ surably. However, the German Empire, his greatest achievement, survived him by only 20 years because he had failed to create an internally uni¬ fied people.
Bismarck Archipelago Island group, western Pacific Ocean. Lying northwest of New Guinea, it forms part of Papua New Guinea. It has a total area of 19,173 sq mi (49,658 sq km); its largest components include New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, and New Hanover (Lavongai).
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