Bosra See Bostra
Bossuet \b6-'swa\, Jacques-Benigne (b. Sept. 25, 1627, Dijon, France—d. April 12, 1704, Paris) French bishop. Ordained a priest in 1652, he gained a reputation as a great orator and popular preacher. In 1681 he became bishop of Meaux. He was the most eloquent and influ¬ ential spokesman for the rights of the French church against papal author¬ ity in the 17th century. He is now chiefly remembered for his literary works, including funeral panegyrics.
Boston Seaport city (pop., 2000: 589,141), capital of Massachusetts, U.S. Located on Massachusetts Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, it is the state’s largest city. Settled in 1630 by Puritan Englishmen of the Mas¬ sachusetts Bay Company, Boston became the hub of the self-governing Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of Gov. John Winthrop. At the forefront of the opposition to British trade restrictions on its Ameri¬ can colonies, Boston was a locus of events leading to the American Revo¬ lution: it was the scene of the Boston Massacre (1770) and Boston Tea Party (1773). It was the centre for the antislavery movement (1830-65). As the Industrial Revolution took hold in the U.S., Boston grew as an important manufacturing and textile centre. Today financial and high- technology industries are basic to the economy of the Boston area. Numer¬ ous institutions of higher education are located there, including Boston University. See also Cambridge.
Boston Globe, The Daily newspaper published in Boston, one of the more influential newspapers in the U.S. Founded in 1872, it was pur¬ chased in 1877 by Charles H. Taylor. Under his leadership, it began pub¬ lishing morning and evening editions, increased local and regional
coverage, and introduced big headlines, especially on sensational stories. In the 20th century, still headed by the Taylor family, the paper began providing more national and international news while maintaining a gen¬ erally liberal editorial stance. The New York Times Co. acquired the Globe in 1993.
Boston Massacre Skirmish on March 5, 1770, between British troops and a crowd in Boston. After provocation by the colonists, British sol¬ diers fired on the mob and killed five men, including Crispus Attucks. The incident was widely publicized by Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and others as a battle for American liberty, and it contributed to the unpopularity of the British in the years before the American Revolution.
Boston Police Strike Strike in 1919 by most of Boston’s police force to protest the police commissioner’s decision to deny them the right to unionize. The mayor called in the city militia to restore order and break the strike; Gov. Calvin Coolidge later sent in the state militia, which gave him a reputation as a strong supporter of law and order and led to his nomination as vice president on the 1920 Republican ticket.
Boston Strangler American serial killer who murdered at least 11 and as many as 13 women in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. The killer’s first victim, a 55-year-old woman, was sexually assaulted and strangled in her apartment on June 14, 1962. During the following months, several other elderly women were murdered in similar circumstances, though subsequent victims included young women. In 1965 Albert DeSalvo, an inmate at a state mental hospital, confessed to the murders. Although never charged with the killings because no physical evidence tied him to the murder scenes, he was convicted on separate counts of sexual assault and sentenced to life imprisonment. DeSalvo’s guilt remains controversial, in part because his confessions demonstrated igno¬ rance of many aspects of the crimes. DNA tests in 2001 confirmed that it was all but impossible that DeSalvo was guilty of the last of the murders, though it was one of the crimes to which he had confessed.
Boston Tea Party Incident on Dec. 16, 1773, in which American patriots dressed as Indians threw 342 chests of tea from three British ships into Boston Harbour. Their leader was Samuel Adams. The action was taken to prevent the payment of a British-imposed tax on tea and to protest the British monopoly of the colonial tea trade authorized by the Tea Act. In retaliation, Parliament passed the punitive Intolerable Acts, which further united the colonies in their opposition to the British.
Boston terrier Breed of dog developed in the late 19th century in Bos¬ ton. Bred from the English bulldog and a white English terrier, the Bos¬ ton terrier is one of the few breeds to have originated in the U.S. It has a terrier-like build, dark eyes, a short muzzle, and a short, fine coat of black or brindle, with white on the face, chest, neck, and legs. It stands 14-17 in. (36—43 cm) high and ranges in weight from 15 to 25 lbs (7-11 kg). The breed is characteristically gentle and affectionate.
Bostra modern Busra Vbus-roV al-Sham Ruined city, southwestern Syria. Lying south of Damascus, it was first a Nabataean city and was later conquered by the Romans (see Roman Republic and Empire) under Trajan. It was the capital of the Roman prov¬ ince of Arabia and served as a for¬ tress east of the Jordan River. It became the see of a bishop early in the 4th century ad but fell to the Muslims in the 7th century. Crusad¬ ers captured the city in the 12th cen¬ tury but failed to hold it, and it quickly fell into decline. It is the site of monumental remains of temples, triumphal arches, aqueducts, churches, and mosques.
Boswell, James (b. Oct. 29,
1740, Edinburgh, Scot.—d. May 19,
1795, London, Eng.) Scottish friend and biographer of Samuel Johnson.
Boswell, a lawyer, met Johnson in 1763 and visited him often (1772—
84), making a superlatively detailed record in his journals of Johnson’s conversations. His two-volume Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1791) is
Boswell, detail of an oil painting from the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds,
1786; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
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256 I Bosworth Field ► Botswana
regarded as one of the greatest English biographies. His Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785) is mainly an account of Johnson’s responses to their 1773 trip to Scotland. The 20th-century publication of Boswell’s journals showed him to have been also one of the world’s greatest dia¬ rists.
Bosworth Field, Battle of (Aug. 22, 1485) Final battle in the English Wars of the Roses. It was fought between the forces of King Richard III of York and the contender for the crown, Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) of Lancaster. The battle occurred when Henry returned from exile, landing with an army at Milford Haven and meeting Richard’s forces 12 mi (19 km) west of Leicester. The king’s men were defeated and put to flight, and Richard was unhorsed and killed in a bog (a scene depicted in Wil¬ liam Shakespeare’s Richard III). The battle established the Tudor dynasty on the English throne.
botanical garden or botanic garden Originally, a collection of living plants designed to illustrate relationships within plant groups. Most modern botanical gardens are concerned primarily with exhibiting orna¬ mental plants in a scheme that emphasizes natural relationships. A display garden of mostly woody plants (shrubs and trees) is often called an arbo¬ retum. The botanical garden as an institution can be traced to ancient China and many Mediterranean countries, where such gardens were often cen¬ ters for raising plants used for food and medicines. Botanical gardens are also reservoirs of valuable heritable characteristics, potentially important in the breeding of new varieties of plants. Still another function is the training of gardeners. The world’s most famous botanical garden is Kew Gardens.
botany Branch of biology that deals with plants, including the study of the structure, properties, and biochemical processes of all forms of plant life, as well as plant classification, plant diseases, and the interactions of plants with their physical environment. The science of botany traces back to the ancient Greco-Roman world but received its modem impetus in Europe in the 16th century, mainly through the work of physicians and herbalists, who began to observe plants seriously to identify those useful in medicine. Today the principal branches of botanical study are morphol¬ ogy, physiology, ecology, and systematics (the identification and ranking of all plants). Subdisciplines include bryology (the study of mosses and liverworts), pteridology (the study of ferns and their relatives), paleobot¬ any (the study of fossil plants), and palynology (the study of modern and fossil pollen and spores). See also forestry, horticulture.