Blackstone River River, central Massachusetts and Rhode Island, U.S. It flows about 50 mi (80 km) past Worcester and across northeastern Rhode Island to Pawtucket, where it becomes the Seekonk River. It fur¬ nishes power to a highly industrialized area.
Blackwell, Elizabeth (b. Feb. 3, 1821, Counterslip, Bristol, Glouc¬ estershire, Eng.—d. May 31, 1910, Hastings, Sussex) British-born U.S. physician. Her family immigrated to the U.S. in 1832. She began her medical education by reading medical books and hiring private instruc¬ tors. Medical schools rejected her applications until she was accepted at
can Indian
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E.S. ROSS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
230 I Blackwell's Island ► Blakeslee
the Geneva Medical (later Hobart) College in 1847. Though ostracized, she graduated at the head of her class in 1849, becoming the first woman doctor in modern times and the first to gain her degree from a U.S. medi¬ cal school. In 1857, despite much opposition, she established the New York Infirmary, staffed entirely by women, and she later added a full course of medical education for women. She was also a founder of the London School of Medicine for Women. Her sister Emily (1826-1910) ran the infirmary for many years and served as dean and professor at the associated medical college.
Blackwell's Island See Roosevelt Island
bladder cancer Malignant tumour of the bladder. The most significant risk factor associated with bladder cancer is smoking. Exposure to chemi¬ cals called arylamines, which are used in the leather, rubber, printing, and textiles industries, is another risk factor. Most bladder cancers are diag¬ nosed after the age of 60; men are affected more than women. Symptoms include blood in the urine, difficulty urinating, excessive urination, or, more rarely, painful urination. Bladder cancer can be treated with surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.
bladderwort Any of about 120 widespread species of terrestrial and aquatic carnivorous plants of the genus Utricularia (family Lentibulari- aceae). They are characterized by small hollow sacs (bladders) that actively capture and digest tiny animals that touch them, including insect larvae, aquatic worms, water fleas, and other small swimmers. Closely related to the bladderworts are the butterworts ( Pinguicula ), 35 species of land plants that capture insects by means of sticky glands on the leaf sur¬ faces.
Blaine, James G(illespie) (b. Jan. 31, 1830, West Brownsville, Pa., U.S.—d. Jan. 27, 1893, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician and diplomat. He moved to Maine in 1854 to become editor of the Kennebec Journal , a crusading Republican newspaper. He served in the U.S. House of Rep¬ resentatives (1863-76), becoming speaker in 1868. An advocate of mod¬ eration in the Republican Party, he opposed the Radical Republicans led by Roscoe Conkling. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1876, he resigned his seat in 1881 to become secretary of state. In this office he took the first steps toward securing U.S. control of the eventual route of the Panama Canal. As the Republican presidential candidate in 1884 he narrowly lost to Grover Cleveland. As secretary of state for a second time in 1889-92, he chaired the first Pan-American Conference.
Blair, Henry William (b. Dec. 6, 1834, Campton, N.H., U.S.—d. March 14, 1920, Washington, D.C.) U.S. politician. He practiced law from 1859 and served in the New Hampshire state legislature before being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1875-79) and Senate (1879-91). In 1876 he sought to give revenues from the sale of public lands to the nation’s schools, and in 1881 he proposed to “vitalize” the schools with a $ 120-million grant to the states; neither effort succeeded. He also advocated women’s rights and racial justice.
Blair, Tony orig. Anthony Charles Lynton (b. May 6, 1953, Edin¬ burgh, Scot.) British politician who in 1997 became the country’s young¬ est prime minister since 1812. Blair was a lawyer before winning election to the House of Commons in 1983. Entering the shadow cabinet of the Labour Party in 1988 at age 35, Blair urged the party to move to the politi¬ cal centre and deemphasize its traditional advocacy of state control and public ownership of certain sectors of the economy. He assumed leader¬ ship of Labour in 1994 and revamped its platform. He led the party to victories in the 1997, 2001, and 2005 elections. His government brokered a peace agreement between unionists and republicans in Northern Ireland, introduced devolved assemblies in Wales and Scotland, and carried out reforms of Parliament. After the September 11 attacks on the U.S. in 2001, Blair allied the United Kingdom with the U.S. and its president, George W. Bush, in a global war against terrorism. In late 2002 Blair and Bush accused the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein of continuing to possess and develop biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons in violation of UN mandates. Despite deep divisions within his own party and strong public opposition to a war with Iraq, Blair, with Bush, led an attack on Iraq that toppled Hussein’s regime in March-April 2003.
Blais Vble\, Marie-Claire (b. Oct. 5, 1939, Quebec, Que., Can.) French-Canadian novelist and poet. In two early, dreamlike novels, Mad Shadows (1959) and Tete blanche (1960), she staked out her territory, working-class people doomed to unrelieved sorrow and grinding poverty. A Season in the Life of Emmanuel (1965) received the Prix Medicis and
was widely translated and discussed. Later works include The Manu¬ scripts of Pauline Archange (1968, Governor General’s Award) and Deaf to the City (1979, Governor General’s Award). She received the Gover¬ nor General’s Award again in 1996 for Soifs (1995). She has also pub¬ lished poetry collections and several plays.
Blake, Edward (b. Oct. 13, 1833, Adelaide, Upper Canada—d. March 1, 1912, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Canadian politician. Blake was called to the bar in 1856 and created a queen’s counsel in 1864. In 1867 he was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. He served as premier of Ontario (1871-72) and minister of justice (1875-77) in Alexander Mackenzie’s cabinet, helping draft the constitution. He was leader of the Liberal Party (1880-87). In 1890 he withdrew from Canadian politics and moved to Ireland, where he served in the British House of Commons (1892-1907).
Blake, Eubie orig. James Hubert Blake (b. Feb. 7, 1883, Balti¬ more, Md., U.S.—d. Feb. 12, 1983, Brooklyn, N.Y.) U.S. songwriter and pianist. He played piano in cafes and brothels as a teenager, and in 1899 he composed his first ragtime song, “Sounds of Africa.” He and his part¬ ner, lyricist and vocalist Noble Sissle (1889-1975), were among the first African American performers to appear onstage without minstrel makeup. Their show Shuffle Along (1921), which introduced Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker, was among the first musicals written, produced, and directed by African Americans. In 1925 Blake cowrote the score to Black¬ birds of 1930. He achieved his greatest fame when the musical Eubie opened on Broadway (1978). He gave his last concert in 1982.
Blake, William (b. Nov. 28, 1757, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 12, 1827, London) English poet, painter, engraver, and visionary. Though he did not attend school, he was trained as an engraver at the Royal Academy and opened a print shop in London in 1784. He developed an innovative technique for producing coloured engravings and began producing his own illustrated books of poetry with his “illuminated printing,” including Songs of Innocence (1789), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793), and Songs of Experience (1794). Jerusalem (1804-20), his third major epic treating the fall and redemption of humanity, is his most richly decorated book. His other major works include The Four Zoas (1795-1804) and Milton (1804-08).