Brattain \'bra-t 3 n\, Walter H(ouser) (b. Feb. 10, 1902, Amoy, China—d. Oct. 13, 1987, Seattle, Wash., U.S.) U.S. scientist. His Ameri¬ can parents brought him to the U.S. soon after his birth. After earning a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, he became a researcher at Bell Laboratories in 1929. With John Bardeen and William B. Shockley, he shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics for the development of the tran¬ sistor and for investigation of the properties of semiconductors.
Brauchitsch Vbrau-kichX, (Heinrich Alfred) Walther von (b.
Oct. 4, 1881, Berlin, Ger.—d. Oct. 18, 1948, Hamburg) German army officer. A member of the general staff in World War I, he rose to become field marshal and army commander in chief (1938). In World War II, he successfully directed Germany’s ground war until Adolf Hitler forced his resignation after suffering major losses in Russia in 1941. He survived the war but died shortly before his scheduled trial as a war criminal.
Braudel \bro-'del\, (Paul Achille) Fernand (b. Aug. 24, 1902, Lumeville, France—d. Nov. 28, 1985, Haute-Savoie) French historian and educator. While a prisoner of the Germans during World War II, Braudel wrote from memory his thesis on the history of the Mediterranean region in the 16th century, later published as The Mediterranean and the Medi¬ terranean World in the Age of Phillip II (1949). With Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre, he became an influential leader of the Annales school, which emphasized the effects of factors such as climate, geography, and
demographics on history. His second major work was Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century (1967, 1979).
Braun Vbraun\, Eva (b. Feb. 6, 1912, Munich, Ger.—d. April 30, 1945, Berlin) Mistress of Adolf Hitler. A saleswoman in the shop of Hitler’s photographer, she became Hitler’s mistress in the 1930s, living first in a house he provided in Munich, then at his chalet in Berchtesgaden. He never allowed her to be seen in public with him, and she had no influence on his political life. In April 1945 she joined him in Berlin, against his orders, as the Allied Powers were closing in on the capital. In recognition of her loy¬ alty, he married her in a civil cer¬ emony in the Chancellery bunker on April 29. The next day Eva Hitler ended her life by taking poison; her husband shot himself. In accordance with his instructions, their bodies were burned.
Braun \'braun\, Wernher von
(b. March 23, 1912, Wirsitz, Ger.—d. June 16, 1977, Alexandria, Va., U.S.) German-bom U.S. rocket engineer. Born into an aristocratic fam¬ ily, he received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. In 1936 he became technical director of the new military development facility at Peenemiinde, an essential centre for the rearmament of Nazi Germany, forbidden by the Versailles accords. Liquid-fueled rocket aircraft and jet- assisted takeoffs were successfully demonstrated there, and the V-2 long- range ballistic missile and the Wasserfall supersonic antiaircraft missile were developed. By 1944 the sophistication of the rockets and missiles being tested at Peenemiinde was many years ahead of that of any other country. After World War II he and his team surrendered to the U.S.; they were immediately set to work on guided missiles by the U.S. Army, and in 1952 he became technical director (later chief) of the Army’s ballistic weapon program. Under his leadership, the Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno, and Pershing missiles were developed. In 1958 he and his group launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 . After NASA was formed, von Braun led the development of some of the large Saturn space launch vehicles; the engi¬ neering success of each of the Saturn class of space boosters remains unmatched in rocket history.
Braunschweig Vbraun-,shfik\ English Brunswick Administrative district, Lower Saxony, Germany. A possession of the Welf family, the duchy of Braunschweig (Brunswick-Llineberg) was created by Emperor Frederick II in 1235 and included the lands surrounding the town of Braunschweig. The electorate of Hanover was included in 1692; its rul¬ ers established the English royal house of Hanover. The duchy became part of the German Empire in 1871 and a German state after 1919. After World War II the region was incorporated into the state of Lower Sax¬ ony. The city of Braunschweig (Brunswick; pop., 2003 est.: 245,076) is today an important industrial centre.
Brazil officially Federative Republic of Brazil Country, east- central South America. Area: 3,287,612 sq mi (8,514,877 sq km). Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 184,016,000. Capitaclass="underline" Brasilia. Most Brazilians are of European or mixed (Indian-European, European-African) ancestry. Bra¬ zil’s ethnic groups have intermixed since the earliest days of its colonial history; Indian peoples who have experienced no mixing with immigrants are restricted to the most remote parts of the Amazon River basin. Lan¬ guage: Portuguese (official). Religions: Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant); also traditional beliefs. Currency: real. Brazil may be divided into many regions, but the Amazon lowlands and the Brazilian Highlands (often called the Central Highlands or Central Plateau) dominate the landscape. The highlands, a plateau with an aver¬ age elevation of 3,300 ft (1,000 m), are primarily in the southeast, while the Amazon lowlands, with elevations below 800 ft (250 m), are in the north. The Amazon River basin, with its more than 1,000 known tributar¬ ies, occupies nearly half of the country’s total area. Brazil’s other rivers include the Sao Francisco, Parnafba, Paraguay, Alto Parana, and Uruguay. Except for the islands of Marajo and Caviana at the mouth of the Ama¬ zon and Maraca to the north, there are no large islands along the roughly 4,600 mi (7,400 km) of Brazil’s Atlantic Ocean coast. There are good
"'Bijoux' in Place Pigalle Bar," by Bras- saV, 1932.
BRASSAI—RAPHO/PHOTO RESEARCHERS
Eva Braun, 1944
HEINRICH HOFFMANN, MUNICH
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
270 I Brazil nut ► bread
harbours at Belem, Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, and Porto Alegre.
The country’s immense forests are a source of many products, while its savannas support cattle raising. Agri¬ culture is important, and mineral reserves are large. Brazil has a devel¬ oping market economy based mainly on manufacturing, financial services, and trade. It is a federal republic with two legislative houses; its chief of state and government is the presi¬ dent. Little is known about Brazil’s early indigenous inhabitants.
Though the area was theoretically allotted to Portugal by the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, it was not for¬ mally claimed by discovery until Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral accidentally touched land in 1500. It was first settled by the Por¬ tuguese in the early 1530s on the northeastern coast and at Sao Vicen¬ te (near modem Sao Paulo); the French and Dutch created small settlements over the next century. A viceroyalty was established in 1640, and Rio de Janeiro became the capi¬ tal in 1763. In 1808 Brazil became the refuge and seat of the govern¬ ment of John VI of Portugal when Napoleon I invaded Portugal; ulti¬ mately the Kingdom of Portugal,
Brazil, and Algarve was proclaimed, and John ruled from Brazil (1815—
21). On John’s return to Portugal,
Pedro I proclaimed Brazilian inde¬ pendence. In 1889 his successor,
Pedro II, was deposed, and a consti¬ tution mandating a federal republic was adopted. Beginning in the 20th century, immigration increased and manufacturing grew, and there were frequent military coups and suspen¬ sions of civil liberties. Construction of a new capital at Brasilia, intended to spur development of the country’s interior, worsened the inflation rate.
After 1979 the military government began a gradual return to democratic practices, and in 1989 the first popular presidential election in 29 years was held. A severe economic crisis began in the late 1990s.