Bluegrass region Area of central Kentucky, U.S. The region contains Kentucky’s best agricultural land and thus became the first area to be settled. It became known for its abundant bluegrass and became famous for breeding fine horses; the calcium-rich soil imparts its minerals to the grass and thence into the horses’ bones.
blues Secular musical form incorporating a repeating harmonic struc¬ ture with melodic emphasis on the flatted or “blue” third and seventh notes of the scale. The specific origins of the blues are not known, but elements of the music of former slaves include the call-and-response pattern and syncopated rhythms of spirituals and work songs. The codification of the structure of the blues occurred in the early 20th century, most commonly as a 12-bar phrase using the chords of the first, fourth, and fifth degrees of the major scale. Its origins as a primarily vocal form induced instru¬ mental performers to imitate the human voice with “bent” notes. Lyric stanzas are usually in three lines, the words of the second generally repeat¬ ing those of the first. The elaboration of the rural blues from Texas and the Mississippi delta established both lyric and instrumental traditions, often featuring speech-like inflection and guitar accompaniment. The bandleader W.C. Handy’s compositions brought blues elements to the popular music of the first decades of the century. The first blues record¬ ings, in the early 1920s, featured singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith using jazz accompanists; their style would become known as clas¬ sic blues. The highly personal interpretations and improvisation of the blues, combined with elements of its structure and inflection, served as the foundation for jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock music.
Bluestocking In mid-18th-century England, any of a group of women who met to discuss literature. Attempting to replace the playing of cards and such social activities with more intellectual pursuits, they held “con¬ versations” to which they invited men of letters and members of the aris¬ tocracy with literary interests. The term probably originated when Mrs. Elizabeth Vesey invited the learned Benjamin Stillingfleet to one of her parties; he declined, saying he lacked appropriate dress, until she told him to come “in his blue stockings”—the ordinary worsted stockings he was
wearing at the time. The word bluestocking came to be applied derisively to a woman who affects literary or learned interests.
Bluford Vblii-fordX, Guion S(tewart), Jr. (b. Nov. 22, 1942, Phila¬ delphia, Pa., U.S.) U.S. astronaut. He flew 144 combat missions in the Vietnam War; on his return, he received a Ph.D. in aerospace engineer¬ ing from the Air Force Institute of Technology. He joined NASA’s astro¬ naut program in 1978 and flew on numerous space-shuttle missions; his first was Challenger's third flight (1983), the first to be launched and land at night. He was the first African American to fly in space.
Blum \'blum\, Leon (b. April 9, 1872, Paris, France—d. March 30, 1950, Jouy-en-Josas) French politician and writer. He made a name as a brilliant literary and drama critic, then entered politics in the French Socialist Party. As a member of the Chamber of Deputies (1919-28, 1929- 40), he became a leader of the Socialists from 1921. The chief architect of an electoral alliance of the left, he became the first Socialist (and the first Jewish) premier of France as head of the Popular Front government (1936-37). He introduced such reforms as the 40-hour workweek and collective bargaining and nationalized the chief war industries and the Bank of France. Arrested by the Vichy government in 1940, he was imprisoned until 1945. In the postwar years he was one of France’s lead¬ ing veteran statesmen.
Blumberg Vbbm-borgX, Baruch S(amuel) (b. July 28, 1925, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. research physician. He received his M.D. from Columbia University. His discovery of an antigen that he later proved to be part of the hepatitis B virus, and which causes the body to produce antibodies to the virus, led to blood-donor screening and a vaccine. He shared a 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with D. Carleton Gajdusek.
Blunt, Anthony (Frederick) (b. Sept. 26, 1907, Bournemouth, Hampshire, Eng.—d. March 26, 1983, London) British art historian and spy. He began his espionage for the Soviet Union after meeting Guy Bur¬ gess at the University of Cambridge in the 1930s. From 1937 Blunt had a brilliant career as an art historian, publishing scores of scholarly works that largely established art history in Britain. In World War II he served in British military intelligence and also gave secret information to the Soviets. In 1945 he was appointed surveyor of the king’s (later queen’s) pictures, and in 1947 he became director of the prestigious Courtauld Institute. He ceased active intelligence work but in 1951 arranged for the escape of Burgess and Donald Maclean (1913-1983) from Britain. In 1964, after the defection of Kim Philby, Blunt was confronted by British authorities and secretly confessed his Soviet connections. When his past as the “fourth man” in the spy ring was made public in 1979, he was stripped of the knighthood awarded him in 1956.
Bly, Nellie orig. Elizabeth Cochrane (b. May 5, 18677, Cochran’s Mills, Pa., U.S.—d. Jan. 27, 1922, New York, N.Y.) U.S. newspaper writer. Bly started writing for The Pittsburgh Dispatch at age 18, pro¬ ducing feature articles on such subjects as divorce and slum life. After joining the New York World, she feigned insanity to get into an asylum and wrote an expose that brought about needed reforms. Beginning in 1889, in an attempt to beat the fictional record in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, she circled the globe in about 72 days, 6 hours. The much-publicized trip made her byname a celebrated synonym for a female star reporter.
Bly, Robert (Elwood) (b. Dec. 23, 1926, Madison, Minn., U.S.) U.S. poet and translator. Bly attended Harvard University and the University of Iowa. In 1958 he founded the magazine The Fifties (later The Sixties), which published the works of young poets. He helped found American Writers Against the Vietnam War, and he donated his 1968 National Book Award prize money (received for The Light Around the Body) to a draft resisters’ organization. His best-selling Iron John (1990) probed the male psyche, and Bly became the best-known leader of the “men’s movement.” In 2001 he published The Night Abraham Called to the Stars, poems uti¬ lizing the Arabic ghazal form. He is also known for his translations of a wide range of poetry.
Blyton Vbli-t 3 n\, Enid (Mary) (b. Aug. 11, 1897, London, Eng.—d. Nov. 28, 1968, London) English children’s writer. Trained as a school¬ teacher, she published her first book, Child Whispers, in 1922. She went on to produce more than 600 children’s books and numerous magazine articles. She is probably best known for several book series, including those featuring Noddy, the Famous Five, and the Secret Seven. Though
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often criticized for their stereotyped characters, simple writing style, and didactic moralism, her books were widely translated and remained inter¬ nationally popular long after her death.
BMW in full Bayerische Motoren Werke Vbl-er-ish-o-mo- 'tor-on-'ver-koV AG German automaker. Founded as an aircraft engine manufacturer in 1916, the company assumed the name Bayerische Motoren Werke and became known for its high-speed motorcycles in the 1920s. During World War II, BMW built the world’s first jet airplane engines for the Luftwaffe. It suffered financially in the postwar period but recovered after 1959 with a new line of conventionally designed high- performance cars. The company’s turnaround was also credited to Ger¬ man entrepreneur Herbert Quandt, who purchased a controlling share of BMW’s stock in 1959. In the 21st century the firm’s brands included BMW cars and motorcycles, MINI automobiles, and Rolls-Royce. Mem¬ bers of the Quandt family continued to hold a significant stake in the company.