brandy Alcoholic beverage distilled from wine or a fermented fruit mash. The name comes from the Dutch brandewijn, “distilled wine.” Most bran¬ dies are aged and contain about 50% alcohol by volume. Some are dark¬ ened with caramel. They are usually served alone as after-dinner drinks but are sometimes used in mixed drinks or dessert dishes or as fuel in flamed dishes such as crepes suzettes and cherries jubilee. They are also used as the base of various liqueurs. The finest brandy is usually thought to be French cognac.
Brandywine, Battle of the (Sept. 11, 1777) Battle in the American Revolution. British Gen. William Howe attempted to remove Pennsylvania from the war by engaging troops under Gen. George Washington on Brandywine Creek, 25 mi (40 km) from the revolutionary capital of Phila¬ delphia. In the end, the British troops occupied the battlefield but failed to destroy Washington’s army or cut it off from Philadelphia. This fail¬ ure contributed to the later British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga.
Brant, Joseph (b. 1742, banks of the Ohio River—d. Nov. 24, 1807, near Brantford, Ont., Can.) Mohawk Indian chief and Christian mission¬ ary. Brant was converted to the Anglican church while attending a school
for Indians in Connecticut. He fought for the British in the last French and Indian War (1754-63).
He led four of the six Iroquois nations on the British side in the American Revolution, winning several notable battles. After the war Brant was granted land along the Grand River in Ontario, Can., where he ruled peacefully and continued his missionary work.
Brant, Sebastian (b. 1458?,
Strassburg—d. May 10, 1521,
Strassburg) German poet. He taught law and later was appointed imperial councillor and court palatine by Maximilian I. His varied writings include works on law, religion, poli¬ tics, and especially morals. His best- known work is The Ship of Fools (1494), an allegory telling of fools on a ship bound for a “fool’s para¬ dise.” The most famous German literary work of the 15th century, it ridi¬ cules the vices of the age and gave rise to a whole school of fool’s literature.
Braque \'brak\, Georges (b. May 13, 1882, Argenteuil, France—d. Aug. 31, 1963, Paris) French painter. He studied painting in Le Havre, then in Paris at a private academy and briefly at the Ecole des Beaux- Arts. Though his earliest works were influenced by Impressionism, his first important paintings (1905-07) were in the style of Fauvism pioneered by Andre Derain and Henri Matisse; in 1907 he exhibited and sold six of these paintings at the Salon des Independants. Abandoning Fauvism in 1907, he invented with Pablo Picasso the revolutionary new style known as Cubism. He painted mostly still lifes featuring geometric shapes and low-key colour harmonies. In 1912 he introduced the collage, or papier colie (pasted-paper picture), by attaching three pieces of wallpaper to the drawing Fruit Dish and Glass. By the 1920s he was a prosperous, well- established modern master. In 1923 and 1925 he designed stage sets for Sergey Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. He enjoyed a long and prestigious career; in his later years he was honoured with important exhibitions throughout the world. In 1961 he became the first living artist to have his works exhibited in the Louvre.
Bras d'Or \bra-'dor\ Lake Salt lake, Nova Scotia, Canada. Located on Cape Breton Island, it is about 50 mi (80 km) long and has an area of 360 sq mi (932 sq km). Its extension, Little Bras d’Or, connects it to the Atlantic Ocean on the north, while a man-made canal connects it to the Atlantic on the south. The lake is a popular summer resort area.
Brasilia City (pop., 2000: 2,043,169), capital of Brazil. It lies on the Parana River. Though the idea of having the country’s capital located in the interior was proposed as early as 1789, Brasilia’s construction began only in 1956. It was designed by the Brazilian architects Liicio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. In 1960 the government began its move from Rio de Jan¬ eiro. The city is a governmental rather than an industrial centre, although many Brazilian companies have headquarters there. Brasilia National Park is nearby.
Brasov or Brashov \bra-'shov\ German Kronstadt \'kron-,shtat\ City (pop., 2002: 588,366), Romania. It lies in the foothills of the Tran¬ sylvanian Alps north of Bucharest. Founded by Teutonic Knights in 1211, it became the centre of a Saxon colony trading in cloth and metalwork throughout much of Walachia and Moldavia. The substantial autonomy of its German inhabitants ended in 1876 with the abolition of their separate national status. Brasov is today a centre for heavy manufacturing.
brass Alloy of copper and zinc, important for its hardness and workabil¬ ity. Brass was first used c. 1200 bc in the Near East, then extensively in China after 220 bc, and soon thereafter by the Romans. In ancient docu¬ ments, including the Bible, the term brass is often used to denote bronze (copper/tin alloy). The malleability of brass depends on its zinc content; brasses with more than 45% zinc are not workable. Alpha brasses con¬ tain less than 40% zinc; beta brasses (40-45% zinc) are less ductile than alpha brasses but stronger. A third group includes brasses with additional elements. Among these are lead brasses, which are more easily machined;
Joseph Brant, portrait by Charles Will- son Peale, 1797; in Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia
COURTESY OF THE INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK COLLECTION, PHILADELPHIA
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
brass instrument ► Brazil I 269
naval and admiralty brasses, in which a small amount of tin improves resistance to corrosion by seawater; and aluminum brasses, which pro¬ vide strength and corrosion resistance where the naval brasses may fail.
brass instrument Musical wind instrument, usually made of brass or other metal, in which the vibration of the player’s lips against a cup- or funnel-shaped mouthpiece causes the initial vibration of an air column. The TRUMPET, TROMBONE, FRENCH HORN, TUBA, EUPHONIUM, SOUSAPHONE, CORNET, flugelhorn, and bugle, as well as historical instruments such as the ophi- cleide, comett, and serpent, are considered brass instruments (though the last two were made of wood); the saxophones, though made of brass, are REED INSTRUMENTS classified as WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS.
BrassaV\bra-'sI\ orig. Gyula Halasz (b. Sept. 9, 1899, Brasso, Tran¬ sylvania, Austria-Hungary—d. July 8, 1984, Eze, France) Hungarian- born French photographer, poet, and sculptor. His pseudonym derives from his native city. In 1924 he settled in Paris, where he became acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, and Salvador Dali. He earned his living as a journalist and found it necessary to use a camera for his assignments. In the 1930s he became known for his dramatic photographs of Paris nightlife. Books of his pho¬ tographs, including Paris After Dark (1933) and Pleasures of Paris (1935), brought him international fame.
brassica Any plant of the large genus Brassica , in the mustard family, containing about 40 Old World spe¬ cies and including the cabbages, mus¬ tards, and rapes. B. oleracea has many edible varieties, such as broc¬ coli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and kohlrabi. Also included in this genus are the turnip ( B. rapa ), the rutabaga (B. napobrassica ), and the Chinese cabbages (B. pekinensis and B. chinensis).
Bratislava \ l bra-ti- , sla-vo\ German Pressburg \'pres-,burk\ Hungar¬ ian Pozsony \'po-,zhon y \ City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 428,672), capital of Slovakia. Settled first by Celts and Romans, it was ultimately inhabited by Slavs in the 8th century. As Pressburg, it developed as a trade centre and became a free royal town in 1291. The first university in what was then Hungary was founded there in 1467. The city served as the Hungar¬ ian capital (1541-1784) and was the seat of the Diet until 1848. The Treaty of Pressburg (1805) was signed here by Napoleon and Francis II follow¬ ing the Battle of Austerlitz. After World War I, on the formation of Czecho¬ slovakia, it became capital of the province of Slovakia, and it became the national capital on Slovakia’s independence in 1992.