Hoover Commission (1947^19, 1953-55) Advisory body headed by former Pres. Herbert Hoover to examine the organization of the U.S. executive branch. The first commission, officially titled the Commission on Organization of the U.S. Executive Branch, was appointed by Pres. Harry Truman to reduce the number of federal government departments. Recommendations from this and a second commission appointed by Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower were largely adopted. Some agencies were consoli¬ dated and new bodies were created, including the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and the General Services Administration.
Hoover Dam formerly Boulder Dam Highest concrete arch dam in the U.S., built on the Colorado River at the Arizona-Nevada border. It impounds Lake Mead. The dam, completed in 1936, is used for flood and silt control, electric power, irrigation, and domestic and industrial water supplies. It is 726 ft (221 m) high and 1,244 ft (379 m) long (along the crest), has a power capacity of 1,345 megawatts, and a volume of 4.4 million cu yd (3.36 million cu m).
hop In botany, either of two species of the genus Humulus, nonwoody annual or perennial vines in the hemp family, native to temperate North America, Eurasia, and South America. The hops used in the brew¬ ery industry (see beer) are the dried female flower clusters (cones) of the common hop ( H. lupulus), a long- lived perennial with rough twining stems. Hops impart a mellow bitter¬ ness and delicate aroma to brewed beverages and aid in their preserva¬ tion. The Japanese hop ( H. japoni- cus) is a quick-growing annual species used as a screening vine.
hop, step, and jump See triple
JUMP
Hope, Bob orig. Leslie Townes Hope (b. May 29, 1903, Eltham,
Eng.—d. July 27, 2003, Toluca Lake, Calif., U.S.) British-born U.S. actor. His family immigrated to Ohio when he was four years old. He cre¬ ated a song-and-comedy vaudeville act and in 1933 won his first substan¬ tial role in a musical, Roberta. Success in radio led to his first film, The Big Broadcast of 1938, in which he sang his theme song, “Thanks for the Memory.” He hosted the highly rated Bob Hope Show (1938-50) on radio and later hosted and appeared in numerous popular television specials. He costarred with Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour in seven popular “Road” pictures, beginning with The Road to Singapore (1940), and won fans in The Paleface (1948), My Favorite Spy (1951), and The Seven Little Foys (1955). For more than 40 years he performed with his variety show for U.S. troops overseas.
Hope diamond Blue diamond from India, one of the largest blue dia¬ monds known. Named for the London banker Thomas Hope, who pur¬ chased it in 1830, the 45.5-carat diamond is on display in the Smithsonian Institution. See photograph on following page.
Hop vine (Humulus lupulus) with female flowers (cones), which are used in brewing.
GRANT HEILMAN
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
894 I Hopeh ► Hopkinson
Hopeh See Hebei
Hopewell culture formerly Mound Builders Most notable ancient Indian culture of east-central North America. It flourished c. 200 bc-ad 500, chiefly in the Illinois and Ohio river valleys. (The name derives from a U.S. farm where the first site was explored.) The Hopewell Indians built earthen mounds for enclosure, burial, reli¬ gious rites, and defense. Hopewell villages lay along rivers and streams. The inhabitants raised corn and pos¬ sibly beans and squash but still relied upon hunting and gathering. They produced pottery and metalwork. Trade routes were evidently well developed. After ad 400 the distinc¬ tive features of the Hopewell culture gradually disappeared. See also Woodland culture.
Hopi Vho-pe\ North American Indian people constituting the west¬ ernmost group of Pueblo Indians. Most live on reservation lands in north¬ eastern Arizona, U.S., surrounded by the Navajo Reservation. The name Hopi means “Peaceful Ones.” They speak a language of the Uto-Aztecan stock. Most of their traditional settlements were on high mesas and con¬ sisted of terraced pueblo structures of stone and adobe. Their precise ori¬ gin is unknown, though they are usually considered descendants of the Anasazi peoples. Matrilineal descent was the rule. They supported them¬ selves by growing corn, beans, squash, and melons and by sheepherding. Hopi life was steeped in religious ceremony and involved secret rites held in semi-underground kivas (pit-houses) and the use of masks and costumes to impersonate kachinas (ancestral spirits). Some 11,100 people claimed sole Hopi descent in the 2000 U.S. census.
Hopkins, Sir Anthony (b. Dec. 31, 1937, Port Talbot, West Gla¬ morgan, Wales) British actor. He joined London’s National Theatre in 1965, where he starred in Shakespearean roles. A subtle actor able to con¬ vey volcanic emotion with a small gesture, he made an acclaimed Broad¬ way debut in Equus (1974). Hopkins stayed on in the U.S. for films such as The Elephant Man (1980) and television productions such as The Bun¬ ker (1981, Emmy Award). At the National Theatre he triumphed in King Lear and Antony and Cleopatra. He won an Oscar for his chilling per¬ formance as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), a role he played in two sequels. He also starred in Howards End (1992), The Remains of the Day (1993), and Amistad (1997).
Hopkins, Esek (b. April 26, 1718, Providence, R.I.—d. Feb. 26, 1802, Providence, R.I., U.S.) American naval officer. He went to sea at age 20, proving his ability as a seaman and a trader. A marriage into wealth put him at the head of a large merchant fleet prior to the French and Indian War (1754-63); his privateering during that conflict added to both his fortune and his naval reputation. In 1775 he was appointed the first com¬ mander of the Continental Navy. Instructed to attack the British fleet in Chesapeake Bay, he sailed instead for the Bahamas, where he captured the British post at New Providence. He returned to Rhode Island, where the fleet became largely inactive. In 1776 an investigation by Congress led to his censure for disobedience. The fleet’s continuing inactivity led to his suspension from command (1777) and dismissal (1778).
Hopkins, Sir Frederick Gowland (b. June 20, 1861, Eastbourne, East Sussex, Eng.—d. May 16, 1947, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) Brit¬ ish biochemist. He discovered the amino acid tryptophan (1901) and showed that it and certain others are essential in the diet and cannot be made in the body from other substances. For his discovery of vitamins, he shared a 1929 Nobel Prize with Christiaan Eijkman. He demonstrated that working muscles accumulate lactic acid and isolated the tripeptide (see peptide) glutathione (1922) and showed that it is vital to utilization of oxy¬ gen by cells. He was knighted in 1925.
Hopkins, Gerard Manley (b. July 28, 1844, Stratford, Essex, Eng.—d. June 8, 1889, Dublin, Ire.) British poet. After studies at Oxford, he converted to Roman Catholicism and eventually became a Jesuit priest.
He burned his youthful verses as inappropriate to his profession; he began writing again in 1875 but was increasingly troubled by the tension between his religious vocation and his delight in the sensuous world. One of the most individual of Victorian writers, he is noted for intense language, compressed syntax, and innovations in prosody, including sprung rhythm. His best-known poems include “The Wreck of the Deut¬ schland,” “Pied Beauty,” “God’s Grandeur,” and “The Windhover.” He died of typhoid at age 44. His work, though not published in collected form until 1918 (by his friend Robert Bridges), influenced many 20th- century poets.
Hopkins, Harry L(loyd) (b. Aug. 17, 1890, Sioux City, Iowa, U.S.— d. Jan. 29, 1946, New York, N.Y.) U.S. New Deal official. He was a social worker in New York City through the 1920s. From 1931 to 1933 he directed the state’s emergency relief agency. After Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933, Hopkins was appointed head of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration. In 1935 he created the Works Progress Administration (WPA). After serving as U.S. commerce secretary (1938— 40), he made several trips for Roosevelt to London and later to Moscow to discuss economic assistance and military strategy. In 1941 he was put in charge of the lend-lease program. He was regarded as Roosevelt’s clos¬ est personal adviser during World War II.