Dahmer, Jeffrey (b. May 21, 1960, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.—d. Nov. 28, 1994, Portage, Wis.) U.S. serial killer. In 1992 he confessed to kill¬ ing, dismembering, and, in some cases, cannibalizing 16 young men, chiefly near his Milwaukee home, in a killing spree that started in 1978, when he murdered a young hitchhiker. The grim details, including his freezer packed with human body parts, made global news. His insanity plea was rejected by a jury, and he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms in 1992 (a 16th was later added for the 16th murder). He was mur¬ dered by a fellow inmate in 1994.
Dahomey See Benin
Dahomey kingdom Western African kingdom that flourished in the 18th—19th century in what is now central Benin. Initially called Abomey, its name was changed to Dahomey after it had expanded by conquering the neighbouring kingdoms of Allada (1724) and Whydah (1727). It thrived on the slave trade with Europe, reaching its high point under Gezu (1818-58), under whom it became independent of the Oyo empire. Soci¬ ety was rigidly stratified into royalty, commoners, and slaves; a central¬ ized bureaucracy carried out the king’s will. The nation was organized for war, both to increase its territory and to take captives for the slave mar¬ ket, and women served as soldiers along with men. With the end of the slave trade in the 1840s, Dahomey began exporting palm oil, which proved less profitable, and an economic decline followed. In 1892 Daho¬ mey was defeated by a French expedition and became part of the French colony of the same name.
Dahshur \da-'shur\ Ancient pyramid site, northern Egypt. It is located near Memphis on the western bank of the Nile. Two of its pyramids date
Daddy longlegs, or harvestman (order Opiliones).
E.s. ROSS
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506 I Daidalic sculpture ► Dalhousle
from the 4th dynasty and were built by Snefru (r. 2575-2551 bc); the smaller is believed to be the first true pyramid. The three remaining pyra¬ mids belong to the 12th dynasty (1938-1756 bc). Nearby tombs have yielded a remarkable collection of jewelry and personal accoutrements.
Daidalic sculpture See Daedalic
SCULPTURE
Daigak Guksa Vta-'gak-'kiik-.saV (b. 1055, Korea—d. 1101, Korea)
Korean Buddhist priest and introducer of Ch’ont’ae (Chinese Tiantai) Buddhism to Korea. He became a monk at age 11 and studied in China. On his return to Korea, he promoted the doctrines of Ch’ont’ae, which attempted to reconcile the two main Korean sects, the Kyo (textual) and the Son (Chinese Chan, Japanese Zen; con¬ templative). The introduction of Ch’ont’ae stimulated the reorganization of the Son school and the development of its Chogye order, which became the main order of Korean Buddhism. Daigak Guksa collected and pub¬ lished 4,750 books of Buddhist scriptures and a catalog of sectarian writ¬ ings.
Daigo, Go- See Go-Daigo d'Ailly, Pierre See Pierre d’AiLLY
Daimler Vdlm-loA, Gottlieb (Wilhelm) (b. March 17, 1834, Schorn- dorf, Wiirttemberg—d. March 6, 1900, Cannstatt) German automotive inventor. Trained as an engineer, he cofounded an engine—building com¬ pany in 1882. He patented one of the first successful internal-combustion engines in 1885 and was the first to use a gasoline engine to power a bicycle (see motorcycle). Further innovations culminated in 1889 in a commercially feasible four-wheeled automobile. In 1890 the Daimler company was founded at Cannstadt, and in 1899 it produced the first Mercedes car. In 1926 it merged with the company founded by Karl Benz. See also Daimler-Chrysler AG.
DaimlerChrysler AG German automotive manufacturer. It was formed in 1998 by the merger of Daimler-Benz and U.S. automaker Chrysler Corp. Its German roots are in the auto companies founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, which merged in 1926. The Mercedes-Benz luxury car, first produced by Daimler in 1901, is the basis of the compa¬ ny’s financial success. DaimlerChrysler makes passenger cars, trucks, and commercial vehicles such as buses. Its brands include Mercedes, Dodge, Jeep, and Plymouth.
daimyo \'di-me-,o\ Any of the largest and most powerful landholding magnates in Japan (c. 10th—19th century). The term was originally applied to military lords who gained territorial control over the various private estates into which the country had been divided; later, in the 14th-15th centuries, daimyo acted as military governors for the Ashikaga shogunate (see Muromachi period). Though they held legal jurisdiction over areas as large as provinces, their private landholdings were relatively small. As the country descended into internecine war, daimyo tended to hold small but consolidated domains in which all the land belonged to themselves or their vassals. Gradually, through constant battles, fewer and fewer daimyo came to hold increasing amounts of territory. When Tokugawa Ieyasu completed unification of Japan in 1603, roughly 200 daimyo had been brought under Tokugawa hegemony. During the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), the daimyo acted as local rulers in three-fourths of the country. After the Meiji Restoration, the daimyo were converted into a pensioned nobility residing in Tokyo. See also HAN.
Dai nan See T'ai-nan Dairen See Dalian
dairy farming Form of animal husbandry that uses mammals, prima¬ rily cows, for the production of milk and products processed from it (including butter, cheese, and ice cream). Though cattle, goats, and sheep have been kept for the production of dairy products since the earliest his¬ torical times, modern dairy farming resulted from the technological advances of the past hundred years: the factory system for processing; sterile storage; refrigeration, fast vehicles and paved roads; and pasteur¬ ization and the enforcement of food-safety laws. Outstanding dairy breeds include the Holstein, Guernsey, Jersey, Ayrshire, and Brown Swiss.
daisy Any of several species of garden plants in the composite family, especially the oxeye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and the English, or true, daisy {Beilis perennis). Both are native to Europe but have become naturalized in the U.S. These and other plants called dai¬ sies are distinguished by a flower composed of 15-30 white ray flowers surrounding a bright yellow disk flower. The cultivated Shasta daisy (C. maximum) resembles the oxeye daisy but has larger flower heads. The English daisy is often used as a bedding plant.
Dakar \da-'kar, 'da-,kar\ City (pop., 1999 est.: urban agglomeration, 1,999,000), capital of Senegal. One of the chief seaports on the western African coast, it lies midway between the mouths of the Gambia and Sene¬ gal rivers. Founded by the French in 1857, its development was spurred by the opening in 1885 of western Africa’s first railway, from Saint-Louis to Dakar. In 1902 it became the capital of French West Africa and, in 1960, of Senegal. Dakar is one of tropical Africa’s leading industrial and ser¬ vice centres. There are museums of ethnography and archaeology there and museums of the sea and of history in nearby Goree.
Dakota See Sioux Dakota River See James River
Dal River River, southern central Sweden. Formed by two forks, the Oster Dal and Vasster Dal, it flows southeast for some 325 mi (520 km) from the mountains along the Norwegian border into the Gulf of Bothnia.
Daladier \da-lad-'ye\, Edouard (b. June 18, 1884, Carpentras, France—d. Oct. 10, 1970, Paris) French politician. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1919 as a member of the Radical Party, served in several different cabinets, and formed short-lived governments in 1933 and 1934. As premier (1938—40), he sought to avoid war by signing the Munich agreement. Arrested after France fell to Germany in World War II, he was imprisoned by the Germans until 1945. After the war he returned to the Chamber of Deputies (1946-58).
Dalai Lama V.da-lI-'la-moX Head of the dominant Dge-lugs-pa order of Tibetan Buddhism. The first of the line was Dge-’dun-grub-pa (1391-1475), founder of a monastery in central Tibet. His successors were regarded as his reincarnations and, like himself, manifestations of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The second head of the order established the ’Brasspungs monastery near Lhasa as its base, and the third received the title Dalai (“Ocean”) from Altan Khan. The fifth, Ngag-dbang-rgya-mtsho (1617— 1682), established the supremacy of the Dge-lugs-pa over other orders. The 13th Dalai Lama, Thub-bstan-rgya-mtsho (1875-1933), held tempo¬ ral and spiritual power after the Chinese were expelled in 1912. The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Bstan-’dzin-rgya-mtsho (b. 1935), was enthroned in 1940 but fled in 1959 with 100,000 followers after a failed revolt against the Chinese, who had gained control of Tibet in 1950-51. His government-in-exile is in Dharmsala, India. A respected figure worldwide, he was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his “con¬ structive and forward-looking proposals” for solving world problems.