Louis Blanc.
H. ROGER-VIOLLET
Blanc \'blaqk\, Mel(vin Jer¬ ome) (b. May 30, 1908, San Fran¬ cisco, Calif., U.S.—d. July 10, 1989,
Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. entertainer. He began his career as a musician on NBC radio, and in 1933 he joined a daily radio program, for which he created several voices to augment the cast. In 1937 he joined the car¬ toon department of Warner Brothers, and he took part in the development of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, providing the voices of Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, and Bugs Bunny. In his 50-year career he supplied the voices for about 3,000 animated cartoons, including 90% of the Warner Brothers cartoons.
Blanc Vbla n \, Mont Italian Monte Bianco Mountain massif, Europe. Located in the Alps on the borders of France, Italy, and Switzer¬ land, it is Europe’s highest peak, at 15,771 ft (4,807 m). It was first climbed in 1786 by Michel-Gabriel Paccard and Jacques Balmat. Mont Blanc Tunnel, 7.3 mi (11.7 km) long and one of the longest vehicular tun¬ nels in the world, connects France with Italy. The region has become a major tourist and winter sports cen¬ tre.
Blanchard VblaVshArN, Jean- Pierre-Francois (b. July 4, 1753, Les Andelys, France—d. March 7, 1809, Paris) French balloonist. In 1785 he made the first aerial cross¬ ing of the English Channel, accom¬ panied by John Jeffries, a U.S. doctor. He invented a parachute in
J.-P.-F. Blanchard, engraving by James Newton, 1785, after an oil painting by Richard Livesay.
COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, WASHINGTON, D.C.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
232 I Blass ► Bleuler
writer on the technique, history, and theory of dance. He danced briefly at the Paris Opera before being appointed director of the ballet school at Milan’s La Scala in 1837, where he would train many of the most bril¬ liant dancers of the 19th century. Among his many innovations, Blasis discovered the technique of spotting (focusing on one spot and snapping one’s head around faster than one’s body) to prevent dizziness when turn¬ ing. Many of his teachings still form the basis of classical ballet.
Blass, Bill (b. June 22, 1922, Ft. Wayne, Ind., U.S.—d. June 12, 2002, New Preston, Conn.) U.S. fashion designer. Blass left home at age 17 to attend the Parsons School of Design in New York City. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he returned to New York, where in 1959 he became the head designer of Maurice Rentner, Ltd. Building upon the innovations of European designers such as Coco Chanel, Blass made clothes that allowed women a chic, modern sense of ease and comfort. His work became popular among New York high-society women. In 1970 Blass became owner of Rentner, which he renamed after himself. He was a pioneer in employing the business strategy of licensing his designs and name to a huge array of fashion accessories. In 1999 he sold his company, which continued as Bill Blass Ltd., and he retired the following year.
blast furnace Vertical shaft furnace that produces liquid metals by the reaction of air introduced under pressure into the bottom of the furnace with a mixture of metallic ore, fuel, and flux fed into the top. Blast fur¬ naces are used to produce pig iron from iron ore for subsequent process¬ ing into steel; they are also employed in processing lead, copper, and other metals. The current of pressurized air maintains rapid combustion. Blast furnaces were used in China as early as 200 bc, and appeared in Europe in the 13th century, replacing the bloomery process. Modem blast furnaces are 70-120 ft (20-35 m) high, have 20—45-ft (6-14-m) health diameters, use coke fuel, and can produce 1,000-10,000 tons (900-9,000 metric tons) of pig iron daily. See also metallurgy, smelting.
Blaue Reiter \ I blau-9- , rI-t3r\, Der German "The Blue Rider" Orga¬ nization of Expressionist artists formed in Munich in 1911 by Vasily Kan¬ dinsky and Franz Marc. The name derived from a volume of essays and illustrations they published. Other members included Paul Klee and August Macke (1887-1914). Influenced by Jugendstil, Cubism, and Futurism but lacking a specific program or philosophy, they exhibited with an interna¬ tional group, including Georges Braque, Andre Derain, and Pablo Picasso. The group disintegrated at the outbreak of World War I.
Blavatsky \bb-'vat-ske\, Helena (Petrovna) orig. Helena Petrovna Hahn known as Madame Blavatsky (b. Aug. 12, 1831, Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. May 8, 1891, London, Eng.) Russian spiritualist and writer. After a brief marriage, she studied occultism and spiritualism and traveled through Europe, Asia, and the U.S. In 1873 in New York City she became a close companion of Henry Olcott (1832-1907); they and others founded the Theosophical Society (1875; see theosophy). In 1879 Blavatsky and Olcott went to India and established headquarters at Adyar. The society thrived, and she edited its journal. The Theosophist. She claimed psychic powers, but the London Society for Psychical Research in 1885 labeled her a fraud. In poor health, she returned to live in Europe. Her most important work, The Secret Doc¬ trine (1888), was an overview of theosophical teachings.
bleach Solid or liquid chemical compound used to whiten or remove the natural colour of fibres, yarns, paper, and textile fabrics. Sunlight was the chief bleaching agent up to the discovery of chlorine in 1774 by Karl Wilhelm Scheele (b. 1742—d. 1786) and the demonstration of its bleach¬ ing properties in 1785 by Claude-Louis Berthollet (b. 1748—d. 1822). In textile finishing, the bleaching process is used to produce white cloth, to prepare fabrics for other finishes, or to remove discoloration. Chlorine, sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypo¬ chlorite, and hydrogen peroxide are commonly used as bleaches.
bleeding heart Any of several species of Dicentra, a genus of her¬ baceous flowering plants of the fumitory family (Fumariaceae). The old garden favourite is the Japanese D. spectabilis, which has small rosy- red and white, heart-shaped flowers dangling from arching stems. The eastern, or wild, bleeding heart ( D.
eximia ) produces sprays of small pink flowers from April to September in the Allegheny Mountains region of the U.S. The Pacific, or western, bleeding heart ( D . formosa ), ranging from California to British Colum¬ bia, has several varieties of garden interest.
Bleeding Kansas Term applied to a period of civil unrest (1854-59) between proslavery and antislavery advocates for control of the new Kan¬ sas Territory. Under the doctrine of popular sovereignty, antislavery emi¬ grants from the North clashed with armed proslavery groups from Missouri. In 1856 a proslavery raid and burning of a hotel and newspa¬ per in Lawrence were followed by several murders instigated by antisla¬ very radicals under John Brown. Sporadic battles continued until Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state in 1861.
blende See sphalerite
Blenheim \'ble-nim. Battle of (Aug. 13, 1704) Famous victory of the duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy against the French in the War of the Spanish Succession, fought at Blenheim (now Blindheim) on the Danube River in Bavaria. English and Austrian troops led by Marl¬ borough and Eugene surprised the unprepared French and Bavarian forces, broke through their centre, and captured 13,000 of their troops; another 18,000 were killed, wounded, or drowned. The French army suf¬ fered its first major defeat in more than50 years, and Bavaria was removed from the war.
Blenheim Vble-nim\ Palace English residence near Woodstock, Oxfordshire, designed by John Vanbrugh and built (1705-24) by the Brit¬ ish Parliament as a gift to John Churchill, duke of Marlborough. It is regarded as the finest example of Baroque architecture in Britain. In the early 18th century Queen Anne’s gardener, Henry Wise, designed its grounds in the formal style of the Palace of Versailles; Capability Brown later redesigned them in his pastoral style, using natural-looking woods, lawns, and waterways.