Breyer Vbri-orN, Stephen (Gerald) (b. Aug. 15, 1938, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1964. After clerking for Arthur Goldberg (1964-65), he taught at Harvard (1967-81). He served as special counsel (1974-75) and chief counsel (1979-81) of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before being appointed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1980); he became its chief judge in 1990. From 1985 to 1989 he served on the commission that devised guidelines for federal sentencing. He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994 by Pres. Bill Clinton. He was known as a pragmatic moderate acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.
Brezhnev \'brezh-,nef\, Leonid (llich) (b. Dec. 19, 1906, Kamen- skoye, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. Nov. 10, 1982, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet leader. He worked as an engineer and director of a tech¬ nical school in Ukraine and held local posts in the Communist Party, becoming regional party secretary in 1939. In World War II he was a political commissar in the Red Army and rose to major general (1943). In the 1950s he supported Nikita Khrushchev and became a member of the Politburo, though in 1964 he was the leader of a coalition that ousted Khrushchev, and soon he emerged as general secretary of the party (1966- 82). He developed the Brezhnev Doctrine, which asserted the right of Soviet intervention in such Warsaw Pact countries as Czechoslovakia
(1968). In the 1970s he attempted to normalize relations with the West and to promote detente with the U.S. He was made marshal of the Soviet Union in 1976 and chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977, becoming the first to hold the leadership of both the party and the state. He greatly expanded the Soviet Union’s military-industrial complex, but in so doing he deprived the rest of the Soviet economy. Despite frail health, he retained his hold on power to the end.
Brian Boru Vbren-bs-'riiX (b. 941, near Killaloe, Ire.—d. April 23, 1014, Clontarf, near Dublin) High king of Ireland (1002-14). He became king of Munster in 976, won control of the southern half of Ireland from the high king Maelsechlainn in 997, and replaced him in 1002. Leinster and the Norsemen of Dublin united against him in 1013 with help from abroad; at the Battle of Clontarf, won by his son Murchad, Brian was killed in his tent by fleeing Norsemen (see Vikings). A line of princes, the O’Briens, descended from him.
Briand \bre-'a n \, Aristide (b. March 28, 1862, Nantes, France—d. March 7, 1932, Paris) French statesman. He became secretary-general of the French Socialist Party in 1901 and served in the Chamber of Deputies (1902-32). Between 1909 and 1929 he served 11 times as premier of France, and he held 26 ministerial posts between 1906 and 1932. His achievements included the Pact of Locarno and the Kellogg-Briand Pact. For his efforts for international cooperation, the League of Nations, and world peace, he shared the 1926 Nobel Prize for Peace with Gustav Stre- SEMANN.
bribery Crime of giving a benefit (e.g., money) in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust (e.g., an official or witness). Accepting a bribe also constitutes a crime. Bribery is typically punishable as a felony (see felony and misdemeanour). In any charge of bribery, some element of “corrupt purpose” must be implied or proved. Thus, in the absence of a complete statutory prohibition on the granting of favours to a public official, a gift is not a bribe unless it is given with some intent to influence the recipient’s official behaviour. See also extortion.
Brice, Fanny orig. Fannie Borach (b. Oct. 29, 1891, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 29, 1951, Los Angeles, Calif.) U.S. comedian and singer. She played in vaudeville and burlesque shows, where the producer Florenz Ziegfeld discovered her in 1910. She became a headliner in his Follies with her musical numbers and comedy routines, including satiric sketches of ballet dancers and fan dancers as well as affecting torch songs such as “My Man.” The char¬ acter of Baby Snooks, an incorrigible little girl, which she created to amuse her friends, became a Follies favou¬ rite, and in that character Brice was featured on radio from 1936 until her death. The Broadway musical Funny Girl (1964; film, 1968) was based on her life.
brick Small building unit in the form of a rectangular block, first produced in a sun-dried form at least 6,000 years ago. Clay, the basic ingredient, is mined from open pits, formed, and then fired in a kiln to produce strength, hardness, and heat resistance. Brick was the chief building material in the ancient Near East. Its versatility was expanded in ancient Rome by improvements in manu¬ facture and by new techniques of bonding. Brick came to be widely used in Western Europe for the protection it offered against fire. See also MASONRY, MORTAR.
Bricker, John W(illiam) (b. Sept. 6, 1893, Madison county, Ohio, U.S.—d. March 22, 1986, Columbus, Ohio) U.S. politician, governor of Ohio (1939^-5) and U.S. senator (1947-59). He graduated from Ohio State University (1916), then practiced law and later served as the state’s attorney general (1933-37). Elected governor, he became the first Repub¬ lican to win three consecutive terms. He was Thomas Dewey’s running mate in the 1944 presidential race. As a U.S. senator, he led efforts to curb the president’s power in foreign affairs. In 1953 he sponsored a constitutional amendment to limit U.S. participation in international treaties; opposed by John Foster Dulles, it was narrowly defeated.
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274 I bridewealth ► Bridget
bridewealth Payment made by the groom or his kin to the kin of the wife in order to ratify the marriage. The practice is common in most parts of the globe in one form or another, but it is perhaps most prevalent in Africa. It is most often a matter of social and symbolic as well as eco¬ nomic reciprocity, being part of a long series of exchanges between the two intermarrying families. It represents a pledge that the wife will be well treated and serves as compensation for her family’s loss. Payment may consist of goods or, less frequently, services, and it may be paid in one sum or regularly over a long period of time. See also dowry.
bridge Structure that spans horizontally to allow pedestrians and vehicles to cross a void. Bridge construction has always presented civil engineering with its greatest challenges. The simplest bridge is the beam (or girder) bridge, consisting of straight, rigid beams of steel or concrete placed across a span. Ancient Roman bridges are famous for their rounded arch form, which permitted spans much longer than those of stone beams and were more durable than wood. A modem version of the arch bridge might have a tmssed arch anchored to the abutments and a deck hanging from the arch by vertical cables. Suspension bridges (e.g., Brooklyn Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge) are capable of spanning great distances; their main support members are cables composed of thousands of strands of wire supported by two towers and anchored at each end, and the deck is sus¬ pended by vertical cables hung from the main cables. In cable-stayed bridges, cables fan out and down from a central tower to various points on the deck; variations of this design have resulted in bridges of striking design and very long span. Other bridges include the truss bridge, popu¬ lar (e.g., for railroad bridges) because it uses a relatively small amount of material to carry large loads, and the cantilever bridge, typically made with three spans, with the outer spans anchored down at the shore and the central span resting on the cantilevered arms.