Breckinridge, John C(abell)
(b. Jan. 21, 1821, near Lexington,
Ky., U.S.—d. May 17, 1875, Lex¬ ington) U.S. politician, vice presi¬ dent (1857—61), and Confederate army officer. He practiced law and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1851-55). In 1856 he was elected vice president under James Buchanan. In 1860 the Demo¬ cratic Party split into factions over the slavery issue, and Breckinridge became the Southern wing’s nominee for president. Defeated by Abraham Lincoln, he worked for compromise; but after the firing on Fort Sumter he urged Kentucky to secede. He became a general in the Confederate army and took part in the Vicksburg, Wilderness, and Shenandoah Valley campaigns. He served as Confederate secretary of war in 1865. After the war he fled to England for three years before returning to Kentucky to resume his law practice.
Breda \bra-'da\, Declaration of (1660) Document issued by the exiled King Charles II in Breda, the Netherlands, making certain promises in return for his restoration to the English throne. It expressed his desire for a general amnesty, liberty of conscience, an equitable settlement of land disputes, and full payment of arrears to the army. He left the spe¬ cifics to the Convention Parliament. See also Restoration.
breeding Application of genetic principles in animal husbandry, agri¬ culture, and horticulture to improve desirable qualities. Ancient agricul¬ turists improved many plants through selective cultivation. Modern plant breeding centers on pollination; pollen from the chosen male plant, and no other pollen, must be transferred to the female plant. Animal breeding consists of choosing the ideal trait (e.g., fine wool, high milk production), selecting the breeding stock, and determining the mating system (e.g., whether mating animals are unrelated, mildly related, or highly inbred).
Breisgau \'brls-,gau\ Historic region, southwestern Germany. Located between the Rhine River and the Black Forest, it was once part of the Roman empire. From the 3rd century ad it was occupied by the Germanic Ale- manni. It became a countship in the early Middle Ages, and in 1120 the town of Freiburg im Breisgau was founded. In the 14th century the Habs- burgs incorporated most of it into their domains. Breisgau was subjected to destructive sieges during the Thirty Years' War, and for a time was held by the Swedes. It now forms part of the state of Baden-Wurttemberg.
Brel, Jacques (b. April 8, 1929, Brussels, Belg.—d. Oct. 9, 1978, Bobigny, near Paris, France) Belgian singer and songwriter. He began his career singing in French cafes. His songs, frequently sharply satirical and often implicitly religious, became hugely popular in Europe. He acted in and directed a number of films from 1967 to 1973. His U.S. reputation was made by the revue Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris
(1968).
Bremen City (pop., 2002 est.: city, 540,950; metro, area, 849,800), northwestern Germany. Located on the Weser River, it was established as a diocese in 787 by Charlemagne and was the seat of an archbishopric from 845. In the 10th century it became an economic centre of northern Germany, especially after entering the Hanseatic League in 1358. It joined the German Confederation in 1815 and the reconstituted German Empire in 1871. It suffered extensive damage in World War II; after the war Bre¬ men, with nearby Bremerhaven (pop., 2002 est.: 195,863), became a state of West Germany. Today the state, covering 156 sq mi (404 sq km), forms an integral part of the German economy and serves as headquarters for many industries.
Bream (Abramis brama)
W.S. Pin- ERIC HOSKING
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
272 I Bremen ► Breton
Bremen \'bra-mon\ Former duchy, Germany. Lying between the lower Weser and lower Elbe rivers and northwest of the former duchy of BRUNSWICK-Liineburg, it covered an area of about 2,000 sq mi (5,200 sq km). It was made an archbishopric in the 13th century, and in 1648 became a duchy under the supremacy of Sweden. In 1715 it became part of the electorate of Hanover.
bremsstrahlung \'brem-,shtral-9q\ German "braking radiation"
Electromagnetic radiation produced by a sudden slowing down or deflec¬ tion of charged particles, especially electrons, passing through matter in the vicinity of the strong electric fields of atomic nuclei. It occurs as cos¬ mic rays pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and accounts for continuous X-ray spectra.
Brendan, Saint (b. 484/486, Tralee, Ire.—d. 578, Annaghdown, County Galway; feast day May 16) Celtic saint and hero of legendary Atlantic voyages. Educated by St. Ita at her school in southwestern Ire¬ land, he became a monk and priest and was put in charge of the abbey at Ardfert. He later founded monasteries in Ireland and Scotland, notably Clonfert (561). A famous traveler, he voyaged to the Hebrides and per¬ haps to Wales and Brittany. He was immortalized in Voyage of Brendan, an Irish epic translated into Latin in the 10th century that told of his jour¬ ney to a “Promised Land of Saints,” and St. Brendan’s Island was long sought by explorers.
Brennan, William J(oseph), Jr. (b. April 25, 1906, Newark, N.J., U.S.—d. July 24, 1997, Arlington, Va.) U.S. jurist. He studied under Felix Frankfurter at Harvard Law School, receiving his degree in 1931. He practiced labour law in New Jersey until 1949, when he was appointed to the state Superior Court. He rose through the ranks of the New Jersey courts, where he was noted for his administrative skill. Although a Demo¬ crat, he was named to the Supreme Court of the United States by Republi¬ can Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. He came to be regarded as one of the most influential jurists in its history. A liberal constructionist and an articulate defender of the Bill of Rights, he is perhaps best remembered for his role in a series of obscenity cases, beginning with Roth v. United States (1957), many of which broadened the protection accorded to pub¬ lishers while seeking to balance individual freedoms with the interests of the community. In New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), he wrote that even false statements about public officials are protected under the 1st and 14th Amendments unless “actual malice” can be demonstrated. He also wrote the majority opinion in Baker v. Carr (1962). He opposed capital punish¬ ment and supported abortion rights, affirmative action, and school deseg¬ regation. He served until 1990; his decisions numbered more than 1,350.
Brent, Margaret (b. c. 1600, Gloucestershire, Eng.—d. 1669/71, Westmoreland county, Va.) British colonial landowner in North America. She arrived in Maryland in 1638 and obtained a patent for 70 acres, becoming the first woman in the colony to hold land in her own right. By 1657 she was among the colony’s largest landowners. In a border dispute with Virginia in 1646, she organized a group of armed volunteers to sup¬ port the Maryland colony’s governor, Leonard Calvert. On his death in 1647, she became executor of his estate and settled a dispute over back pay for his soldiers that had nearly led to civil war.
Brentano \bren-'ta-no\, Clemens (b. Sept. 9, 1778, Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz—d. July 28, 1842, Aschaffenburg, Bavaria) German poet, novelist, and dramatist. He was one of the founders of the Heidelberg Romantic school, which emphasized German folklore and history. With his brother-in-law Achim von Arnim (1781-1831), he published Des Kna- ben Wunderhorn (1805-08; The Youth’s Magic Horn), a collection of German folk lyrics (including successful imitations of folk style) that became an important inspiration to lyric poets and composers such as Gustav Mahler. Among his most successful works are his fairy tales, par¬ ticularly Gockel, Hinkel and Gackeleia (1838).
Brentano \bren-'ta-no\, Franz (Clemens) (b. Jan. 16, 1838, Marien- berg, Hesse-Nassau—d. March 17, 1917, Zurich, Switz.) German phi¬ losopher. Nephew of Clemens Brentano, he was ordained a priest in 1864 and taught at the University of Wurzburg (1866-73). Religious doubts led to his resignation from the priesthood in 1873. To present a system¬ atic psychology that would serve as a science of the soul, he wrote the influential Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint (1874). He became the founder of act psychology, or intentionalism, which concerns itself with the mind’s “acts” or processes (e.g., perception, judgment, loving, and hating) rather than its contents. He later taught at the University of