Annan \a-'nan\, Kofi (Atta) (b. April 8, 1938, Kumasi, Gold Coast) Seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (from 1997), who shared, with the UN, the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace. He was the son of a pro¬ vincial governor and hereditary paramount chief of the Fante people. He did graduate work at Geneva’s Institute for Advanced International Stud¬ ies and at MIT. He has spent almost his entire career within the UN, beginning at the World Health Organization (1962). As undersecretary- general for peacekeeping (from 1993), he transferred peacekeeping opera¬ tions in Bosnia from the UN to NATO. Elected in Decemberl996, he became the first UN secretary-general from sub-Saharan Africa, and he enjoyed a mandate to reform the UN bureaucracy. He criticized the UN’s failure to prevent or minimize genocide in Rwanda (1994) and unsettled many by declaring that the UN should address human-rights violations perpetrated by governments against their own people. His priorities included reforming the UN, restoring public confidence in the organiza¬ tion, and strengthening the UN’s activities for peace and development. Annan was appointed to a second term in 2001.
Annapolis \3-'na-p3-l9s\ City (pop., 2000: 35,838), capital of Mary¬ land, U.S. It lies along the Severn River on Chesapeake Bay. Settled in 1649 as Providence by Virginia Puritans, it was later known as Town Land at Proctor’s and Ann Arundel Town. It became the colonial capital in 1694 and was later renamed to honour Princess (later Queen) Anne. Its economy is tied to government services, and it is home to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Annapolis Convention (September 1786) Meeting in Annapolis, Md., U.S., that caused the convening of the Constitutional Convention. Delegates from five states gathered to discuss problems in maritime com¬ merce but found they could not solve them without making changes to the Articles of Confederation. They issued a call to all states to meet in Philadelphia in 1787 to resolve the difficulties.
Annapurna Mountain range, Nepal. It forms a ridge 30 mi (48 km) long and contains four main summits. Annapurna I (26,545 ft, or 8,091 m) was first scaled in 1950 by a French expedition; it was the first peak of more than 26,000 ft (8,000 m) to be ascended to the summit. In 1970 an all-woman Japanese team climbed Annapurna III (24,786 ft, or 7,555 m).
Anne (b. Feb. 6, 1665, London, Eng.—d. Aug. 1, 1714, London) Queen of Great Britain (1702-14) and the last Stuart monarch. Second daughter of James II, who was overthrown by William III in 1688, Anne became queen on William’s death (1702). Though she wished to rule independently, her intellectual limitations and poor health led her to rely on advisers, includ¬ ing the duke of Marlborough. Her reign was marked by the Act of Union with Scotland (1707) and by bitter rivalries between Whigs and Tories. Because she never gave birth to a successor, the regency passed to the Hanoverian descendants of James I.
Anne Boleyn \bu-'lin\ (b. 1507?—d. May 19, 1536, London, Eng.) British royal consort. After spending part of her childhood in France, Anne lived at the court of Henry VIII, who soon fell in love with her and began secret proceedings to rid himself of his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. For six years Pope Clement VII refused to grant an annulment. In 1533 Henry and Anne were secretly married, and Henry had the archbishop of Canter¬ bury, Thomas Cranmer, annul his previous marriage. Anne gave birth to the future Elizabeth I but failed to produce the male heir Henry wanted. He lost interest in her, and in 1536 he had her imprisoned on questionable charges of adultery and incest. She was convicted and beheaded.
Anne of Austria (b. Sept. 22, 1601, Valladolid, Spain—d. Jan. 20, 1666, Paris, France) Queen consort (1615-43) of Louis XIII of France and regent (1643-51) for her son Louis XIV. Daughter of Philip III of Spain and Margaret of Austria, Anne married the 14-year-old Louis XIII in 1615. He treated her coolly, and the powerful cardinal de Richelieu attempted to limit her influence over her husband. After Louis XIII died and she was declared sole regent, she strove to ensure that her son would succeed to
the absolute power Richelieu had won for Louis XIII. Together with her first minister, Cardinal Mazarin, she faced the series of revolts known as the Fronde. Her regency ended in 1651, when Louis XIV was pro¬ claimed of age to rule.
Anne of Brittany (b. Jan. 25,
1477, Nantes, France—d. Jan. 9,
1514, Blois) Duchess of Brittany and twice queen consort of France. After succeeding to her father’s duchy in 1488, Anne allied herself with Max¬ imilian I of Austria. She was then forced to break with him and in 1491 marry Charles VIII of France, thus beginning the process of the union of Brittany with the French crown.
After Charles’s death (1498), she married his successor, Louis XII.
Throughout her life Anne devoted herself to safeguarding Brittany’s autonomy within the kingdom.
Anne of Cleves (b. Sept. 22, 1515—d. July 16, 1557, London, Eng.) Fourth wife of Henry VIII of England. Henry married Anne, whom he found homely, to form an alliance with her brother William, duke of Cleves, a leader of the Protestants of western Germany. The alliance, arranged by Thomas Cromwell, seemed necessary because it appeared that the major Roman Catholic powers, France and the Holy Roman Empire, intended to attack Protestant England. When that threat dissipated, the marriage became a political embarrassment and was annulled by an Angli¬ can convocation in 1540.
annealing Treatment of a metal, alloy, or other material by heating to a predetermined temperature, holding for a certain time, and then cool¬ ing to room temperature, done to improve ductility and reduce brittleness. Process annealing is carried out intermittently during the working of a piece of metal to restore ductility lost through repeated hammering or other working, if several cold-forming operations are required but the metal is so hardened after the first operation that further cold working would cause cracking (see hardening). Full annealing is done to give workability to such parts as forged blanks destined for use in the machine- tool industry. Annealing is also done for relief of internal stresses in metal and glass. Annealing temperatures and times differ for different materials and with properties desired; steel is usually held for several hours at about 1,260°F (680°C) and then cooled for several hours. See also heat treat¬ ing, SOLID SOLUTION.
annelid Va-no-.lidX Any member of a phylum (Annelida) of invertebrate animals that possess a body cavity (coelom), movable bristles (setae), and a body divided into segments by crosswise rings. Known as segmented worms, annelids are divided into three classes: marine worms (Polycha- eta; see polychaete), earthworms (Oligochaeta), and leeches (Hirudinea). See illustration on following page.
Anne's War, Queen See Queen Anne's War
annihilation In physics, a reaction in which a particle and its antipar¬ ticle (see antimatter) collide and disappear. The annihilation releases energy equal to the original mass m multiplied by the square of the speed of light c, or E = me 2 , in accordance with Albert Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The energy can appear directly as gamma rays or can convert back to particles and antiparticles (see pair production).
annual Any plant that completes its life cycle in a single growing sea¬ son. The dormant seed is the only part of an annual that survives from one growing season to the next. Annuals include many weeds, wildflowers, garden flowers, and vegetables. See also biennial, perennial.
annual ring See growth ring
annuity Payment made at a fixed interval. A common example is the payment received by retirees from their pension plan. There are two main classes of annuities: annuities certain and contingent annuities. Under an annuity certain, a specified number of payments are made, after which the annuity stops. With a contingent annuity, each payment depends on the continuance of a given status; for example, a life annuity continues only