Brighton Town (pop., 1995 est.: 143,000), southern England. Lying on the English Channel south of London, it was for several centuries a small fishing village, but it gained popularity in the late 18th century when the prince of Wales (later George IV) made the first of his many visits. His powerful patronage stamped the town with the distinguished character still seen in its Regency-style squares. Victorian Brighton grew rapidly with the opening of the railway connecting it to London (1841).
Brigit Vbri-joA In Celtic religion, the goddess of poetry, crafts, prophecy, and divination. She was equivalent to the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena and substantially the same as the northern British goddess Brig- antia. In Ireland she was worshiped by th efilid, a poetic and priestly class. She was one of three daughters of Dagda, all named Brigit, the others being associated with healing and the craft of the smith. Some of the lore surrounding Brigit was transferred to the 5th-century Irish abbess St.
Brigid. Her feast day, February 1, is the date of the pagan festival Imbolc, when the ewes came into milk. Her great monastery at Kildare was prob¬ ably founded on a pagan sanctuary, and many holy wells in the British Isles are dedicated to her.
Brillat-Savarin \bre-ya-sa-va-'ra n \, (Jean-) Anthelme (b. April 1, 1755, Belley, Fra.—d. Feb. 2, 1826, Paris) French lawyer and gastronome. Mayor of the town of Belley, he fled France during the Reign of Terror but returned to sit on France’s highest court, where he remained the rest of his life. His celebrated Physiologie du gout (“Physiology of Taste”; Eng. trans. A Handbook of Gastronomy), published in 1825, is less a treatise on cuisine than a witty compendium of anecdotes and observations intended to enhance the pleasures of the table; only the occasional recipe is included.
brine shrimp Any of several small crustaceans (genus Artemia) inhab¬ iting brine pools and other highly salty inland waters throughout the world. A. salina, which occurs in vast numbers in Great Salt Lake,
Utah, is commercially important.
Young brine shrimp hatched there from dried eggs are used widely as food for fish and other small animals in aquariums. Up to 0.6 in. (15 mm) long, the brine shrimp’s body has a distinguishable head and a slender abdomen. It normally swims upside down, and it feeds primarily on green algae, which it filters from the water with its legs.
Brinkman, Johannes Andreas (b. March 22, 1902, Rotterdam, Neth.—d. May 6, 1949, Rotterdam) Dutch architect. After graduating from the Delft Technical University, he helped design the van Nelle tobacco factory (1928-30) in Rotterdam, one of the most architecturally important industrial buildings of the 1920s. An outstanding example of Modernist architecture, its unbroken expanses of glass convey a strong feeling of lightness and transparency.
Brisbane Vbriz-.banN City (pop., 2004 est.: urban agglom. 1,774,890), southeastern Queensland, Australia. Lying on the northern bank of the Brisbane River above its mouth at Moreton Bay, the site was first explored by the English in 1823. It was founded as a penal colony in 1824 and was declared a town in 1834 when it was named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane, former governor of New South Wales. Made the capital of Queensland in 1859, it was joined with South Brisbane in the 1920s to form Greater Brisbane. The city, connected by bridges and ferries, is Aus¬ tralia’s third largest; it is the hub of rail lines and highways and a busy port. It is the site of the Queensland Cultural Centre and a university.
Brisbane, Albert (b. Aug. 22, 1809, Batavia, N.Y., U.S.—d. May 1, 1890, Richmond, Va.) U.S. social reformer. The son of wealthy landown¬ ers, he went to Europe in 1828 to study social reform with great thinkers of his age. Disappointed with Francois Guizot in Paris and G.W.F. Hegel in Berlin, he later discovered the works of Charles Fourier, under whom he studied for two years. In 1834 he returned to the U.S. and later estab¬ lished a Fourier community in New Jersey. His book Social Destiny of Man (1840) attracted widespread attention. In his newspaper column in the New York Tribune he explained the Fourier system of self-sustaining communities, which he called Associationism. His son Arthur (1864- 1936) was editor of the New York Evening Journal (1897-1921) and the Chicago Herald and Examiner (from 1918).
brise-soleil \,brez-so-'la\ (French: “breaks the sun”) Sun baffle of ver¬ tical or horizontal louvers outside the windows or extending over the entire surface of a building’s facade, especially precast concrete grids of the type developed by Le Corbusier. Many traditional methods exist for reducing the effects of the sun’s glare, such as the projecting upper-story window of latticework ( mashrabiyah or mushrabiyah ) used in Islamic architecture, pierced screens as used at the Taj Mahal, or blinds of split bamboo {sudare) as used in Japan.
brisling See sprat
Brissot \bre-'so\ (de Warville), Jacques-Pierre (b. Jan. 15, 1754, Chartres, France—d. Oct. 31, 1793, Paris) French revolutionary politician. He founded the popular newspaper Le Patriote Frangais and became a leader of the Girondins (often called Brissotins) in the French Revolution. Elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, he advocated war against
Brine shrimp (Artemia salina)
DOUGLAS P. WILSON
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
276 I Bristol ► British Library
Austria, arguing that war would consolidate the Revolution. Along with other Girondins, he was arrested and guillotined during the Reign of Terror.
Bristol City and unitary authority (pop., 2001: 380,615), southwestern England. Lying at the confluence of the Rivers Avon and Frome, the city received its first charter in 1155. Long a centre of commerce, it was the point of departure in 1497 of John Cabot in his search for a route to Asia. During the 17th—18th centuries it prospered in the triangular trade (rum, molasses, and slaves) between West Africa and the West Indian and American plantation colonies. Though Bristol suffered a decline in trade in the early 19th century, it soon rebounded with the coming of the rail¬ way. It suffered severe damage from bombing in World War II but was rebuilt. Today it is an important shipping centre, especially for oil and food products.
Bristol Channel Inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, southwestern England. It extends about 85 mi (135 km) between southern Wales and southwestern England, ranging from 5 to 43 mi (8-69 km) wide. Lundy Island, once a pirate stronghold, lies in the centre of the channel; it is maintained as a trust preserve. Ships using the English port of Bristol and the Welsh ports of Swansea and Cardiff pass through the channel.
Britain Name historically applied to the island of Great Britain. Britain is used especially when referring to its pre-Roman and Roman periods and to its early Anglo-Saxon period. It is the Anglicized form of Latin Britannia. See also United Kingdom.
Britain, Battle of (June 1940-April 1941) Series of intense raids directed against Britain by the German air force in World War II. The air attacks, intended to prepare the way for a German invasion, were directed against British ports and RAF bases. In September 1940 the attacks turned to London and other cities in a “blitz” of bombings for 57 consecutive nights, which was followed by intermittent raids until April 1941. The RAF was outnumbered but succeeded in blocking the German air force through superior tactics, advanced air defenses, and the penetration of German secret codes.
British Airways in full British Airways PLC International passen¬ ger airline based in London. In 1936 British Airways Ltd. was founded through the merger of three smaller airlines. A merger with Imperial Air¬ ways in 1939 created British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The British Airways name returned in 1974 with the government-mandated merger of BOAC and British European Airways (BEA). The airline was privatized in 1987. It merged with British Caledonian later that year. Brit¬ ish Airways is one of Europe’s largest air carriers.