Deng Xiaoping Vdoq-'shau-'piqV or Teng Hsiao-p'ing (b. Aug. 22, 1904, Guang’an, Sichuan province, China—d. Feb. 19, 1997, Beijing)
Chinese communist leader, China’s most powerful figure from the late 1970s until his death. In the 1950s he became a vice-premier of the Peo¬ ple’s Republic of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He fell from favour during the Cultural Revolution but was rehabilitated in 1973 under the sponsorship of Zhou Enlai. Though seen as a likely successor to Zhou as premier, Deng was again ousted, this time by the Gang of Four, when Zhou died in 1976. However, Mao Zedong died later that year, and in the ensuing power struggle the Gang of Four was arrested; Deng was rehabilitated for a second time. His proteges Zhao Ziyang and Hu Yaobang became premier and CCP general secretary, respectively. Both embraced Deng’s wide-reaching reform program, which abandoned many orthodox communist doctrines and introduced free-enterprise elements into the economy. Hu died in April 1989, and Zhao was dismissed from the government after the Tiananmen Square incident in June. Deng gradually relinquished his official posts but con¬ tinued to guide China behind the scenes until his death.
dengue \'deq-ge\ or breakbone fever or dandy fever Infec¬ tious, disabling mosquito-borne fever. Other symptoms include extreme joint pain and stiffness, intense pain behind the eyes, a return of fever after brief pause, and a characteristic rash. Dengue is caused by a virus carried by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, usually A. aegypti, which also carries yellow fever. There are four strains of virus; infection with one type does not confer immunity to the remaining three. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms. Patients should be isolated during the first three days, when mosquitoes can pick up the disease from them. Prevention relies on mosquito control.
Dengyo Daishi See Saicho
Denikin \dyi-'nye-kyin\, Anton (Ivanovich) (b. Dec. 16, 1872, near Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire—d. Aug. 8, 1947, Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.) Russian general. A professional in the imperial Russian army, he was a lieutenant-general in World War I. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he and Lavr Kornilov were arrested for conspiring to overthrow the pro¬ visional government. They fled south to the Don River region and assumed command of the anti-Bolshevik (“White”) forces in the Russian Civil War. In 1919 Denikin launched a major offensive toward Moscow, but his forces were defeated by the Red Army at Orel. Forced to retreat, he turned over his command to Pyotr Wrangel (1920), then fled Russia and later settled in France.
denim Durable Twin-woven fabric with coloured (usually blue) warp (lengthwise) and white filling (crosswise) threads, also sometimes woven in coloured stripes. The name originated in the French serge de Nimes. Denim is usually all-corrON, though it is sometimes made of a cotton- synthetic mixture. Decades of use in the clothing industry, especially in the manufacture of overalls and trousers worn for heavy labour, have demonstrated denim’s durability, a quality that, along with its comfort, made denim jeans extremely popular for leisure wear in the late 20th cen¬ tury.
Denis, Ruth Saint See Ruth Saint Denis
Denis \do-'ne,\ English \'de-nos\, Saint or Saint Denys (d. 258?, Paris; Western feast day October 9; Eastern feast day October 3) Patron saint of France and traditionally the first bishop of Paris. Probably born in Rome, he was, according to the 6th-century historian and bishop Gre¬ gory of Tours, one of seven bishops sent to convert the people of Gaul during the reign of Decius. Little is known of his life; he is believed to have been martyred during the persecutions of the emperor Valerian. A 9th-century legend says that he was beheaded on Montmartre and that his decapitated body carried his head to the area northeast of Paris where the Benedictine abbey of St. Denis was founded.
denitrifying bacteria \ l de- , nl-tr9- 1 fi-iq\ Soil microorganisms whose action results in the conversion of nitrates in soil to free atmospheric nitrogen, thus exhausting soil fertility and reducing agricultural produc¬ tivity. Without denitrification, earth’s nitrogen supply would eventually accumulate in the oceans, since nitrates are highly soluble and are con¬ tinuously leached from the soil into nearby bodies of water. See also nitri¬ fying BACTERIA.
Denmark officially Kingdom of Denmark Country, north-central Europe. Area: 16,640 sq mi (43,098 sq km). Its territory includes Green¬ land and the Faroe Islands, which are self-governing dependencies. Popu¬ lation (2005 est.): 5,416,000. Capitaclass="underline" Copenhagen. The majority of the population is Danish. Language: Danish (official). Religions: Christian-
"I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold," oil on composition board by Charles Demuth, 1928; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW VORK CITY, THE ALFRED STIEGUTZ COLLECTION, 1949
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
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The two largest islands, Zealand (SjalLIAND) and Funen (Fyn), together make up about one-fourth of the country’s total land area. With a 4,500-mi (7,300-km) coastline, Denmark has a generally temperate and often wet climate. It has a mixed economy based on services and manufacturing. It boasts one of the world’s oldest and most comprehensive social welfare systems, and its standard of living is among the highest in the world. Denmark is a constitutional monarchy. Its chief of state is the Danish monarch, and the head of government is the prime minister. Denmark may have been inhabited as early as about 100,000 bc. About 500 ad the first foreign mentions of Danes as a tribe appeared. During the Viking period the Danes expanded their territory, and by the 11th century the united Danish kingdom included parts of what are now Sweden, England, and Norway. Scandinavia was united under Danish rule from 1397 until 1523, when Sweden became independent; a series of debilitating wars with Sweden in the 17th century resulted in the Treaty of Copenhagen (1660), which established the modern Scandinavian frontiers. Denmark gained and lost various other territories, including Norway, in the 19th and 20th centuries; it went through three constitutions between 1849 and 1915 and was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940-45. A founding member of NATO (1949), Denmark adopted its current constitution in 1953. It became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973 but modi¬ fied its membership during the 1990s in response to some Danes’ con¬ cerns regarding environmental protection and social welfare. In the early 21st century, Denmark’s handling of immigrants, though a small statis¬ tical minority, raised great debate.