His first professional heavyweight title win was against Sonny Liston in 1964. After defending the title nine times between 1965 and 1967, he was stripped of it for refusing induc¬ tion into the armed forces following his acceptance of the teachings of the Nation of Islam. It was then that he changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1974 Ali regained his title after defeating the former champion Joe Frazier and the then-current champion George Foreman. He lost to Leon Spinks in 1978 but later that year regained the title a third time, becoming the first heavyweight champion ever to do so. He retired in 1979, having lost only three of 59 fights. Attempted comebacks in 1980 and 1981 failed. Throughout his career Ali was known for his aggressive charm, invincible attitude, and colourful boasts, often expressed in doggerel verse. “I am the greatest” was his personal credo. Ali’s later years have been marked by physical decline. Damage to his brain, caused by blows to the head, has resulted in slurred speech, slowed movement, and other symptoms of Parkinson disease.
Alia lemon \al-'yak-mon\ River River, north-central Greece. Rising in the Grammos Mountains and flowing southeast then northeast for 185 mi (297 km) into the upper Gulf of Thermai, it is the longest river in Greek Macedonia. Throughout history it has served as a natural line of defense against invaders from the north.
Alicante \,a-le-'kan-ta\ City (pop., 2001: 284,580), southeastern Spain, located on Alicante Bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It was founded as a Greek colony in 325 bc and was captured in 201 bc by the Romans, who called it Lucentum. After being ruled by the Moors (718-1249), it was later incorporated into the kingdom of Aragon in 1265. The city was besieged by the French in 1709 and by the Federalists of Cartagena in 1873. Its economy is based on tourism and the export of wine and pro¬ duce.
Alice Springs Town (pop., 2001 prelim.: 26,990), Northern Territory, Australia. It lies between Darwin and Adelaide, virtually in the centre of the continent. It originated in the 1870s as a station on the Overland Tele¬ graph Line. Because of its location, it has become a major shipping point. Its mild winter climate makes it a popular tourist destination.
alien In law, one who resides in a country without becoming natural¬ ized, retaining instead the citizenship of another country. The laws of most nations have long afforded aliens certain minimum standards of civilized treatment but have also restricted their employment and ownership of property. Under U.S. law, all aliens have had to register since 1940. Reg¬ istration cards (“green cards”) entitle them to obtain employment. Like citizens, aliens are protected by the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights and the due-process clause of the 14th Amendment. They remain subject to limitations under local laws, and residence in the U.S. is not a right but a privilege granted by Congress.
Alien and Sedition Acts Four laws passed by the U.S. Congress in 1798, in anticipation of war with France. The acts, precipitated by the XYZ Affair, restricted aliens and curtailed press criticism of the govern¬ ment. Aimed at French and Irish immigrants (who were mostly pro-
France), they increased the waiting period for naturalization and authorized expulsion of aliens considered dangerous. The Alien and Sedi¬ tion Acts were opposed by Thomas Jefferson and helped propel him to the presidency. They were repealed or had expired by 1802.
alienation In the social sciences context, the state of feeling estranged or separated from one’s milieu, work, products of work, or self. The con¬ cept appears implicitly or explicitly in the works of Emile Durkheim, Fer¬ dinand Tonnies, Max Weber, and Georg Simmel but is most famously associated with Karl Marx, who spoke of workers being alienated from their work and its products under capitalism. In other contexts the term alienation, like anomie, can suggest a sense of powerlessness, meaning¬ lessness, normlessness, social isolation, or cultural- or self-estrangement brought on by the lack of fit between individual needs or expectations and the social order.
alimentary canal or digestive tract Pathway along which food travels when it is eaten and from which solid wastes are expelled. It includes the mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intes¬ tine, and anal canal. See also digestion.
alimony See marriage law
Alitalia Italian international airline with headquarters in Rome. Although the airline no longer commands monopoly status in its country, as of 2002 the Italian government still owned a majority share of the company.
Alito, Samuel A., Jr. in full Samuel Anthony Alito, Jr. (b. April 1, 1950, Trenton, N.J., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He earned a bachelor’s degree (1972) from Princeton University and law degree (1975) from Yale Uni¬ versity. He served as an assistant to the U.S. solicitor general (1981-85), deputy assistant to the U.S. attorney general (1985-87), and U.S. attor¬ ney for the district of New Jersey (1987-90). In 1990 he was appointed by U.S. Pres. George Bush to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, establishing a conservative judicial record. In 2005 he was appointed associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court by Pres. George W. Bush to fill the seat of retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor; he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate the following year.
aliyah \a-‘le-ya\ Hebrew "ascending" In Judaism, the honour, accorded to a worshiper, of being called up to read an assigned passage from the Torah at Sabbath morning services; or Jewish immigration to Israel. Because the passage assigned for each Sabbath morning service is subdivided into a minimum of seven sections, at least seven different per¬ sons are called up for these readings. Aliyah in the sense of immigration to Israel is ongoing but also occurs in waves. The first two waves of immigration occurred in 1882-1914, the next three in 1919-39. The sixth aliyah (1945-48) brought many Holocaust survivors. Later waves of immigration included Falasha from Ethiopia, emigres from the former Soviet Union, and others. See also Zionism.
Alkaios See Alcaeus
alkali Val-ko-.lA Inorganic compound, any soluble hydroxide (—OH) of the alkali metals: lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium. More broadly, ammonium hydroxide (see ammonia) and soluble hydroxides of the alkaline earth metals are also called alkalies. Strong bases that turn lit¬ mus paper blue, they react with acids to yield salts, are caustic, and in con¬ centrated form corrode tissues. Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda) and potassium hydroxide (caustic potash) are very important industrial chemi¬ cals, used in the manufacture of soaps, glass, and many other products. The mineral trona, a compound of sodium carbonate and bicarbonate, is one naturally occurring alkali. It may be mined or recovered from dry lake beds.
alkali feldspar Any of several common silicate minerals that often occur as whitish to variously coloured, glassy crystals. The alkali feld¬ spars may be regarded as mixtures of sodium aluminosilicate (NaAlSi 3 0 8 ) and potassium aluminosilicate (KAlSi 3 0 8 ). Both the sodium and potas¬ sium aluminosilicates have several distinct forms, each with a different structure. Alkali feldspars are used in the manufacture of glass and ceram¬ ics; transparent, highly coloured, or iridescent varieties are sometimes used as gemstones. They are primarily important, however, as constitu¬ ents of rocks (see plagioclase).
alkali metal Any of the six chemical elements in the leftmost group of the periodic table (lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, and francium). They form alkalies when they combine with other elements. Because their
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alkaline earth metal ► Allen I 49
atoms have only one electron in the outermost shell, they are very reac¬ tive chemically (they react rapidly, even violently, with water), form numerous compounds, and are never found free in nature.