Farah, Nuruddin (b. 1945, Baidoa, Italian Somaliland) Somali writer, Somalia’s first novelist and first English-language author. His first pub¬ lished novel, From a Crooked Rib (1970), describes a woman’s determi¬ nation to maintain her dignity in a sexist society. His other works include a trilogy— Sweet and Sour Milk (1979), Sardines (1981), and Close Sesame (1983)—about life under an African dictatorship. Maps (1986) examines identity and boundaries. The political nature of his fiction forced him into exile, and he taught in Europe, North America, and elsewhere in Africa.
farce Light, dramatic composition that uses highly improbable situa¬ tions, stereotyped characters, violent horseplay, and broad humour. Farce is generally regarded as intellectually and aesthetically inferior to comedy in its crude characterizations and implausible plots, but it has remained popular throughout the West from ancient times to the present.
Fargo City (pop., 2000: 90,599), eastern North Dakota, U.S. The state’s largest city, it is located on the Red River of the North. It was founded in 1871 by the Northern Pacific Railway and named for William G. Fargo of Wells, Fargo & Co. The development of wheat growing in the area con¬ solidated the city’s role as a transportation, marketing, and distribution centre. North Dakota State University (1890) is a noted centre of agri¬ cultural research. Local industries include the manufacture of farm imple¬ ments and fertilizer. The meat-packing plants and stockyards in suburban West Fargo rank among the nation’s largest.
Farinelli orig. Carlo Broschi (b. Jan. 24, 1705, Andria, Kingdom of Naples—d. July 15, 1782, Bologna) Italian castrato singer. After being castrated, he became a student of the composer Nicola Porpora (1686— 1768), making his debut in 1720. Renowned for his vocal power and remarkable agility, he was persuaded by Porpora to go to London in 1734, where he became the greatest opera star of his time. In 1747 he aban¬ doned the public stage for the court of Philip V in Madrid, where his sing¬ ing revived the ailing monarch. Farinelli took over the court’s musical establishment and engaged in highly extravagant projects. In 1759 he retired to Bologna, where he received illustrious guests, including Joseph II and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in great style at his villa.
Farley, James A(loysius) (b. May 30, 1888, Grassy Point, N.Y., U.S.—d. June 9, 1976, New York, N.Y.) U.S. politician. He entered New York Democratic Party politics in 1912. As secretary of the state Demo¬ cratic committee in 1928, he organized the successful gubernatorial cam¬ paigns of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1928 and 1930. As national Democratic Party chairman (1932-40), he directed Roosevelt’s 1932 and 1936 presi-
"Still Life," oil on canvas by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1866; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C., CHESTER DALE COLLECTION
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
658 i farm machinery ► Farrakhan
dential campaigns. He served as postmaster general (1933-40) but resigned that post and the party chairmanship in opposition to Roosevelt’s bid for a third term as president.
farm machinery Mechanical devices, including tractors and imple¬ ments, used in farming to save labour. The great variety of farming devices covers a wide range of complexity, from simple hand-held implements used since prehistoric times to the complex harvesters of modern mecha¬ nized agriculture. From the early 19th century to the present, the chief source of power in farming has changed from animals to steam power, then to gasoline, and finally to diesel. In developed countries, the num¬ ber of farmworkers has steadily declined in the 20th century, while farm production has increased because of the use of machinery.
Farmer, Fannie (Merritt) (b. March 23, 1857, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. Jan. 15, 1915, Boston) U.S. cookery expert. She became direc¬ tor of the Boston Cooking School in 1894 and in 1896 published The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. Standardizing the methods and mea¬ surements of recipes, it became one of the best-selling cookbooks of all time; its modem versions were titled The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. In 1902 she established Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery, with courses designed to train housewives rather than teachers of cookery.
Farmer-Labor Party (1918—44) Minor political party in Minnesota, U.S. An outgrowth of the Nonpartisan League, it was composed mainly of small farmers and urban labourers. It supported Robert La Follette in the 1924 presidential election, and its candidate, Floyd B. Olson, was elected governor in 1930. It supported Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936 before merging with the Democratic Party in 1944 to form the Democrat-Farmer- Labor Party.
Farmer's Almanac U.S. annual journal, now called Old Farmer’s Almanac , containing long-term weather predictions, planting schedules, astronomical tables, astrological lore, recipes, anecdotes, and sundry pleasantries of rural interest. First published by Robert B. Thomas in 1792 (for the year 1793), it went on to outlast dozens of competitors. It issued long-range weather forecasts, based on obscure interpretations of natural phenomena, long before any weather service existed, and generations of farmers planted and harvested according to its advice. Now published in Dublin, N.H., it sells some 4 million copies annually.
Farmington River River, western Liberia. The country’s only river of commercial importance, it rises in the Bong Range and flows southwest for 75 mi (120 km) to the Atlantic coast. It is navigable for 10 mi (16 km) below Harbel, the port from which rubber is shipped to Monrovia for export.
Farnese, Alessandro, duke di Parma and Piacenza (b. Aug. 27, 1545, Rome—d. Dec. 3, 1592, Arras, France) Regent of the Nether¬ lands (1578-92) for Philip II of Spain. He was educated at the court of Madrid, where he had been sent to prove his father’s loyalty to the Hab- sburgs. In 1578 Philip II appointed him governor-general of the Nether¬ lands, where his mother, Margaret of Parma, had been regent earlier. His great achievement was the restoration of Spanish rule in the southern provinces and perpetuation of Roman Catholicism there. He succeeded by astute statesmanship and military operations against the alliance of rebellious Protestant provinces led by William the Silent. In 1586 he suc¬ ceeded his father as duke of Parma and Piacenza, but he never returned to Italy to rule.
Farnese \far-‘na-sa\ family Italian family that ruled the duchy of Parma and Piacenza from 1545 to 1731. The family became noted for its states¬ men and soldiers, especially in the 14th—15th century, as well as by con¬ tracting politically useful marriages. In 1545 Pope Paul III, a Farnese, detached Parma and Piacenza from the papal dominions and made them into duchies. The first duke was his illegitimate son, Pier Luigi Farnese (1503—47), whose son Ottavio (1542-86), the 2nd duke, made Parma the capital and consolidated the family’s power. The 3rd duke, Alessandro Far¬ nese, was Spain’s regent of the Netherlands and duke in name only. His son, Ranuccio I (1569-1622), and grandson, Odoardo I (1612-46), left heavy financial and diplomatic debts by inconclusive military campaigns in the Thirty Years' War. In 1649 Pope Innocent X accused the Farnese of the mur¬ der of an ecclesiastic and seized the fief. Ranuccio II (1630-94) declared war and was defeated, and the duchy survived precariously. Francesco Far¬ nese (1678-1727) tried to save the state, but his only important success was the marriage of his niece Isabella Farnese to Philip V of Spain (1714). In 1731 the duchy passed from the last Farnese of the male line, Antonio (1679- 1731), to Elizabeth’s son, the future Charles III.
Farnsworth, Philo T(aylor) (b. Aug. 19, 1906, Beaver, Utah, U.S.—d. March 11, 1971, Salt Lake City, Utah) U.S. engineer and pio¬ neer inventor in the development of television. In 1927 he successfully transmitted the first image using electronic means. By 1930 he was per¬ fecting an electronic camera tube, the Image Dissector, which he demon¬ strated to rival inventor Vladimir Zworykin of Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Through the 1930s Farnsworth engaged in lawsuits against RCA, both sides claiming the invention of electronic television. In 1939 RCA agreed to pay him royalties as part of a patent-licensing agreement; that same year RCA introduced the first successful television system. Farnsworth went on to patent many other inventions, but he never achieved financial success or primary credit for inventing television.