- black powder (explosive)
black powder, first type of explosive mixture invented for use in firearms and for blasting (see
- Black Power (American philosophical movement)
African Americans: Urban upheaval: “Black Power” became popular in the late 1960s. The slogan was first used by Carmichael in June 1966 during a civil rights march in Mississippi. However, the concept of Black power predated the slogan. Essentially, it refers to all the attempts by African Americans to…
- Black Prairie (region, Mississippi, United States)
Mississippi: Relief and soils: …Central Prairie, separated from the Black Prairie by a section of hills and woods. The two prairies, with fertile black soil that is excellent for many types of agriculture, were once the site of large cotton plantations. East of the Black Prairie, in the extreme northeast, are the Tennessee Hills.…
- Black Prince’s ruby (gem)
Black Prince’s ruby, large red gem set in the Maltese cross in the front of the imperial state crown of England. It is not a ruby but is one of the world’s largest gem-quality red spinels, a polished lump 5 cm (2 inches) long, pierced and partly filled with a small ruby. The stone was given to
- Black Prince, and Other Stories, The (short stories by Grau)
Shirley Ann Grau: Grau’s first book, The Black Prince, and Other Stories (1955), had considerable success. Her first novel, The Hard Blue Sky (1958), concerns Cajun fishermen and their families. This was followed by The House on Coliseum Street (1961), which examines the lives of a mother and her five daughters,…
- Black Prince, The (novel by Murdoch)
Iris Murdoch: …Nice and the Good (1968), The Black Prince (1973), Henry and Cato (1976), The Sea, the Sea (1978, Booker Prize), The Philosopher’s Pupil (1983), The Good Apprentice (1985), The Book and the Brotherhood (1987), The Message to the Planet (1989), and
- Black Prince, The (English prince)
Edward The Black Prince was the son and heir apparent of Edward III of England and one of the outstanding commanders during the Hundred Years’ War, winning his major victory at the Battle of Poitiers (1356). His sobriquet, said to have come from his wearing black armour, has no contemporary
- Black Prince, the (Australian boxer)
Peter Jackson was an outstanding professional boxer. A victim of racial discrimination (Jackson was black), he was denied a chance to fight for the world heavyweight championship while in his prime. Jackson won the Australian heavyweight championship in 1886 and the British Empire title in 1892. On
- black pudding (food)
black pudding, a sausage incorporating blood, popular in the British Isles and typically eaten as a breakfast food. Black pudding has been a recorded item of British cuisine since at least the 1400s, although it is certainly far older. The Odyssey of Homer mentions a sausage “filled with fat and
- Black Rain (film by Scott [1989])
Ridley Scott: …Watch Over Me (1987) and Black Rain (1989); again, these were admired for their visual styling. While Scott’s settings in Thelma & Louise (1991) were no less notable, the film’s lead characters (played by Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon) and feminist theme were the focus of critical attention, and he…
- Black Rain (work by Ibuse Masuji)
Ibuse Masuji: …the novel Kuroi ame (1966; Black Rain), which deals with the terrible effects of the bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.
- Black Rain (album by Osbourne)
Ozzy Osbourne: Later music: …studio album in six years, Black Rain. He followed with Scream (2010), Ordinary Man (2020), and Patient Number 9 (2022). The latter won the Grammy for best rock album, and its single “Degradation Rules” (featuring Tony Iommi) was named best metal performance. In 2023 Osbourne canceled his upcoming concerts because…
- Black Range (mountains, United States)
Black Range, mountain range extending 100 miles (160 km) north to south, through Catron and Sierra counties, southwestern New Mexico, U.S. The range follows the Continental Divide for much of its length. Most of the range lies within the Gila National Forest, near the headwaters of the Gila River.
- black raspberry (fruit)
raspberry: Cultivation: Two North American species of black raspberries (R. occidentalis and R. leucodermis) are also grown commercially in some areas, though production is limited. Raspberry plants are fairly resistant to disease and pests but must be staked or trellised to control their wild growth. Red varieties are usually propagated by suckers…
- black rat (rodent)
rat: …the Norway rat), and the house rat, R. rattus (also called the black rat, ship rat, or roof rat), live virtually everywhere that human populations have settled; the house rat is predominant in warmer climates, and the brown rat dominates in temperate regions, especially urban areas. Most likely originating in…
- black rat snake (reptile)
rat snake: The black rat snake, or pilot black snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta), of the eastern United States usually is about 1.2 m (about 4 feet) long but may exceed 2.5 m (8 feet). It is black, with whitish chin and throat—like the true black snake (see racer)—but…
- Black Raven (American lawyer and politician; president of Republic of Texas)
Sam Houston was an American lawyer and politician, a leader in the Texas Revolution (1834–36) who later served as president of the Republic of Texas (1836–38; 1841–44) and who was instrumental in Texas’s becoming a U.S. state (1845). In his youth Houston moved with his family to a farm in rural
- Black Reconstruction: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880 (work by DuBois)
W.E.B. Du Bois: Black nationalism and later works: Black Reconstruction: An Essay Toward a History of the Part Which Black Folk Played in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in America, 1860–1880 (1935) was an important Marxist interpretation of Reconstruction (the period following the American Civil War during which the seceded Southern states were…
- black redshank (bird)
redshank: The slightly larger spotted redshank (T. erythropus), also called dusky or black redshank, has reddish brown legs and a straight red bill with a brown tip. In breeding season, its plumage is black; in winter, gray. It breeds across sub-Arctic Eurasia and winters from the Mediterranean region into…
- Black Reign (album by Queen Latifah)
Queen Latifah: …with Motown Records, she released Black Reign in 1993. The album was a critical and commercial success, and the single “U.N.I.T.Y.,” which decried sexism and violence against women, earned a Grammy Award.
- Black Repartition (political party, Russia)
Narodnik: …Tsar Alexander II (1881), and Chorny Peredel (“Black Repartition”), a party that continued to emphasize work among the peasantry until its members shifted their attention to the urban proletariat in the 1880s. The populist ideology of the Narodnik movement was revived by its 20th-century ideological descendant, the Socialist Revolutionary Party…
- Black Resistance/White Law: A History of Constitutional Racism in America (work by Berry)
Mary Frances Berry: …racial and gender inequality, including Black Resistance/White Law: A History of Constitutional Racism in America (1971, expanded ed. 1994), which concluded that high-level government officials implemented laws that undermined minorities; Long Memory: The Black Experience in America (1982); and The Politics of Parenthood: Child Care, Women’s Rights, and the Myth…
- black rhinoceros (mammal)
black rhinoceros, (Diceros bicornis), the third largest rhinoceros and one of two African species of rhinoceros. The black rhinoceros typically weighs between 700 and 1,300 kg (1,500 and 2,900 pounds); males are the same size as females. It stands 1.5 metres (5 feet) high at the shoulder and is 3.5
- Black Rider, The (musical collaboration by Waits, Burroughs and Wilson)
Robert Wilson: The series began with The Black Rider (1990) and continued with Alice (1992), a retelling of the Lewis Carroll books, both with music by Tom Waits. The final installment, Time Rocker (1996), had more to do with Wilson’s minimalist decor and lighting and less with music (by Lou Reed)…
- Black River (river, Jamaica)
Jamaica: Drainage and soils: The Black River in the west and the Rio Cobre near Kingston are each longer than 30 miles (50 km).
- Black River (river, Wisconsin, United States)
Black River, river that rises in central Wisconsin, U.S., and flows south and southwest for some 160 miles (260 km) to enter the Mississippi River near La Crosse. The river’s final stretch of 1.5 miles (2.5 km) has a depth maintained at 9 feet (3 metres) for seasonal barge
- Black River (river, Asia)
Black River, one of the chief tributaries of the Red River (Song Hong) in southeastern Asia. Nearly 500 miles (800 km) long, the river rises in central Yunnan province in southwestern China and flows southeastward into northwestern Vietnam on a course parallel to the Red River. Near the city of Hoa
- Black River (river, Arizona, United States)
Salt River: …at the confluence of the Black and White rivers on a plateau in eastern Gila county. It flows 200 miles (320 km) in a westerly direction and empties into the Gila River 15 miles (24 km) west-southwest of Phoenix. The Salt River and its main tributary, the Verde River, are…
- Black River (river, Arkansas and Missouri, United States)
Black River, river in southeastern Missouri and eastern Arkansas, U.S., rising in the Ozark Mountains in Reynolds county, Mo. It flows southeasterly to Poplar Bluff, Mo., and then continues southwest to enter the White River near Newport, Ark., after a course of 280 miles (450 km). Limited
- Black River (Ohio, United States)
Lorain, city, Lorain county, northern Ohio, U.S. It is located on Lake Erie at the mouth of the Black River, about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Elyria and 25 miles (40 km) west of Cleveland. Moravian missionaries camped briefly on the site in 1787, but the first permanent settler was Nathan Perry,
- Black River, The (poetry by Stead)
C.K. Stead: Stead composed the poems in The Black River (2007) after suffering a stroke. The Yellow Buoy: Poems 2007–2012 (2013) deals largely with his European travels.
- Black Rock Canal (canal, New York, United States)
Niagara River: The Black Rock Canal, from Buffalo Harbor to a point a few miles down the Niagara River, extends the navigation period locally through a greater part of the winter, when the river itself becomes jammed with Lake Erie ice. The principal shipping between Lakes Erie and…
- Black Rock Desert (region, Nevada, United States)
Black Rock Desert, arid region of lava beds and alkali flats composing part of the Basin and Range Province and lying in Humboldt and Pershing counties of northwestern Nevada, U.S. With an area of about 1,000 square miles (2,600 square km), the desert is 70 miles (110 km) long and up to 20 miles
- Black Rod (English official)
Black Rod, an office of the British House of Lords (the upper house in Parliament), instituted in 1350. Its holder is appointed by royal letters patent, and the title is derived from the staff of office, an ebony stick surmounted with a gold lion. Black Rod is a personal attendant of the sovereign
- black root rot (plant disease)
sugar beet: Diseases and pests: Black root rot, a fungus disease characterized by lesions in the stem near the soil surface, and Cercospora leaf spot, a fungus infection in which the leaves become greenish yellow and root weight and sugar content are reduced, are most serious and can cause great…
- Black Rose, The (novel by Costain)
Thomas B. Costain: …best known of which are The Black Rose (1945), whose medieval English hero ranges as far as Kublai Khan’s China, and The Silver Chalice (1952), about the early Christians in Rome.
- black rust (plant disease)
cereal farming: Fungus diseases: …chief damage is caused by black rust. Because this fungus spends part of its life on cereals and part on the barberry bush, these bushes are often eradicated near wheat fields as a preventive measure. Black rust causes cereal plants to lose their green colour and turn yellow. The grain…
- Black Sabbath (British rock group)
Black Sabbath, British band whose bludgeoning brand of rock defined heavy metal in the 1970s. The principal members were Ozzy Osbourne (byname of John Osbourne; b. December 3, 1948, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England), Terry (“Geezer”) Butler (b. July 17, 1949, Birmingham), Tony Iommi (b. February
- black sand (geology)
black sand, accumulation of fragments of durable heavy minerals (those with a density greater than that of quartz), usually of a dark colour. These accumulations are found in streambeds or on beaches where stream and wave energy was sufficient to carry away low-density material but not the heavy
- black sapote (plant)
sapote: Black sapote (Diospyros nigra), also known as chocolate pudding fruit, is a member of the family Ebenaceae and is found throughout the Caribbean and Central America. White sapote, or casimiroa (Casimiroa edulis), ranges from Mexico to Costa Rica and is in the Rutaceae family.
- Black Sash (South African organization)
Helen Zille: Education and early career: …in several organizations, including the Black Sash civil rights group, the philanthropic Open Society Foundation, and the Independent Media Diversity Trust. During the early 1990s, as the policies of apartheid were being unraveled, she served as a technical adviser to the Democratic Party (DP)—a small, liberal, white South African party…
- Black Saturday bushfires (Australia [2009])
Black Saturday bushfires, series of bushfires in 2009 that killed 173 people, injured 500, and destroyed thousands of homes in the Australian state of Victoria. With its abundant forests and hot dry climate, Australia has often suffered from deadly bushfires, notably the 1939 “Black Friday” blaze
- black scoter (bird)
scoter: The black scoter is the least abundant in the New World. All three species of scoter feed mainly on marine animals such as clams; only about 10 percent of their diet is plant material. The three species may be seen feeding in mixed flocks.
- Black Sea (sea, Eurasia)
Black Sea, large inland sea situated at the southeastern extremity of Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine to the north, Russia to the northeast, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west. The roughly oval-shaped Black Sea occupies a large basin strategically
- black sea bass (fish)
sea bass: …and sport are grouper; the black sea bass (Centropristis striata), a gray, brownish, or blackish species of the western Atlantic; and the graysby (Petrometopon cruentatus), of tropical western Atlantic waters.
- Black Sea Fleet (Russian navy)
Ukraine: State building and diplomacy: …Ukraine over control of the Black Sea Fleet and Sevastopol, the Crimean port city where the fleet was based, was particularly acrimonious. Early in 1992 Ukraine laid claim to the entire fleet, which had been an important naval asset of the Soviet Union. Russia responded unequivocally that the fleet always…
- Black Sea Lowland (region, Ukraine)
Dnieper River: Physiography: …Dnieper basin lies within the Black Sea Lowland, in the black-soil steppe area, which has now been completely plowed up. The grassy steppe vegetation has been preserved only in the nature reserves and preserves and in old ravines and gullies. Near the Black Sea there is wormwood–fescue vegetation of the…
- Black Sea Nature Reserve (nature reserve, Ukraine)
Ukraine: Plant and animal life: The Black Sea Nature Reserve shelters many species of waterfowl and is the only Ukrainian breeding ground of the Mediterranean gull (Larus melanocephalus). Also located on the Black Sea, the Danube Water Meadows Reserve protects the Danube River’s tidewater biota. Other reserves in Ukraine preserve segments…
- Black Sea turbot (fish)
turbot: Among them are the Black Sea turbot (Scophthalmus maeoticus), a relative of the European species, and certain right-sided, Pacific Ocean flatfish of the genus Pleuronichthys and the family Pleuronectidae.
- black seed (plant and seed)
black cumin, (Nigella sativa), annual plant of the ranunculus family (Ranunculaceae) grown for its pungent seeds, which are used as a spice and in herbal medicine. The black cumin plant is found in southwestern Asia and parts of the Mediterranean and Africa, where it has a long history of use in
- Black Seminoles (people)
Black Seminoles, a group of free blacks and runaway slaves (maroons) that joined forces with the Seminole Indians in Florida from approximately 1700 through the 1850s. The Black Seminoles were celebrated for their bravery and tenacity during the three Seminole Wars. The Native American Seminoles
- Black September (political organization, Palestine)
Black September, breakaway militant faction of the Palestinian organization Fatah. The group was founded in 1971 to seek retribution on Jordan’s military and to assassinate Jordan’s King Hussein after they forcefully confronted the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during an attempt to seize
- Black September (Jordanian history)
Saʿīd Ḥammāmī: …(a confrontation known as “Black September”). The PLO was defeated, and Ḥammāmī moved to Beirut, Lebanon, where he remained involved in Palestinian politics, envisaging compromise with Israel. Though a fervent nationalist, Ḥammāmī was regarded as a “moderate” because of his willingness to consider the establishment of an independent Palestinian…
- Black September Organization (political organization, Palestine)
Black September, breakaway militant faction of the Palestinian organization Fatah. The group was founded in 1971 to seek retribution on Jordan’s military and to assassinate Jordan’s King Hussein after they forcefully confronted the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during an attempt to seize
- black Seto (Japanese pottery)
Seto-guro ware, Japanese ceramic ware created at Mino during 1573–96. A black ware, it stands in contrast to the contemporary pure-white Shino ware. Seto-guro (“black Seto”) was produced by a process that involved firing the iron-glaze ware in an oxidizing kiln from which it was suddenly removed
- black shale (rock)
black shale, variety of shale that contains abundant organic matter, pyrite, and sometimes carbonate nodules or layers and, in some locations, concentrations of copper, nickel, uranium, and vanadium. Fossils are rare in the shale and either are replaced by pyrite or are preserved as a film of
- black shark (fish)
black shark, either of two Asian species of river fishes. See
- Black Sheep (film by Spheeris [1996])
Chris Farley: Movies: Billy Madison and Tommy Boy: …two comedians then appeared in Black Sheep (1996), about a political aide (Spade) who must babysit a candidate’s bumbling brother (Farley). Farley made two more films, Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), a martial arts comedy, and Almost Heroes (1998), about 19th-century explorers. He was also cast to voice the title role…
- Black Sheep (Turkmen tribal federation)
Kara Koyunlu, Turkmen tribal federation that ruled Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468. The Kara Koyunlu were vassals of the Jalāyirid dynasty of Baghdad and Tabrīz from about 1375, when the head of their leading tribe, Kara Muḥammad Turmush (reigned c. 1375–90), ruled Mosul. The
- Black Sheep Squadron (United States military unit)
Pappy Boyington: …organized Squadron 214, called the Black Sheep Squadron, one of the most renowned fighting units of the war, operating mostly in the Solomon Islands. On his last mission, on January 3, 1944, he shot down three Japanese aircraft but was himself shot down in Rabaul harbour, New Britain, and was…
- Black Ship to Hell (work by Brophy)
Brigid Brophy: ” Her nonfiction treatise Black Ship to Hell (1962), which examines human destructive and self-destructive instincts, owes much to her study of psychoanalysis. Flesh (1962), In Transit (1969), Pussy Owl: Superbeast (1976), Palace Without Chairs (1978), and other novels portray the subtleties of modern relationships. Later nonfiction works include…
- Black Ships, The (Japanese opera)
Japanese music: Composers in Western styles: His opera Kurobune (1940; The Black Ships) deals with the opening of Japan to the West and reflects his knowledge of Wagnerian style. Attempts at nationalistic operas can be represented better by the work Yuzuru (1952; Twilight Crane) by Ikuma Dan. The plot is a Japanese folktale, and, although…
- black skimmer (bird)
skimmer: The largest skimmer is the black skimmer (Rynchops nigra; see photograph) of America, which grows to 50 cm (20 inches) long. The African skimmer (R. flavirostris) and the Indian skimmer (R. albicollis) are smaller.
- black skin disease (disease)
Pomeranian: Care and upkeep: …from a painless disorder called alopecia X, or black skin disease. It first appears as areas of hair loss, and the exposed skin may eventually turn black. Affected dogs should wear shirts or sunscreen to prevent sunburn. In addition, some Poms that have had their coat clipped may not regrow…
- Black Skin, White Masks (work by Fanon)
Frantz Fanon: …Peau noire, masques blancs (1952; Black Skin, White Masks) is a multidisciplinary analysis of the effect of colonialism on racial consciousness. Integrating psychoanalysis, phenomenology, existentialism, and Negritude theory, Fanon articulated an expansive view of the psychosocial repercussions of colonialism on colonized people. The publication shortly before
- Black Slaves (work by Ortiz)
Fernando Ortiz: …the subject, and in 1916 Los negros esclavos (“Black Slaves”), in which he studies Cuban blacks according to the region of Africa from which they came. His Un catauro de cubanismos (1923; “A Load of Cubanisms”) identifies the African origins of many words used in Cuba, as well as the…
- black snake (reptile)
black snake, any of about a dozen species of snakes that are all black or nearly so. Australia has two species of black snakes, Pseudechis porphyriacus and P. guttatus. P. porphyriacus is a small-headed member of the cobra family, Elapidae. It is blue-black with a red belly, and its average length
- black snakeroot (herb)
bugbane: …(4 feet) tall, and the black cohosh, or black snakeroot (C. racemosa; see photograph), about 180 cm (5.91 feet) tall, have roots that have been used medicinally. C. foetida, native to Europe and Siberia, is used medicinally by the Chinese. These species are sometimes grown in the shady woodland garden…
- black snub-nosed monkey (primate)
primate: Distribution and abundance: …(Rhinopithecus roxellana) and black (R. bieti), are confined to high altitudes (up to 3,000 metres in the case of the former and to 4,500 metres in the latter), where the temperature drops below 0 °C (32 °F) every night and often barely rises above it by day.
- black soil (soil)
India: Soils: …black soils known locally as regur. After those the alluvial soil is the third most-common type. Also significant are the desert soils of Rajasthan, the saline soils in Gujarat, southern Rajasthan, and some coastal areas, and the mountain soils of the Himalayas. The type of soil is determined by numerous…
- Black Sorcerers (work by Ortiz)
Fernando Ortiz: In 1906 he published Los negros brujos (“Black Sorcerers”), his first book on the subject, and in 1916 Los negros esclavos (“Black Slaves”), in which he studies Cuban blacks according to the region of Africa from which they came. His Un catauro de cubanismos (1923; “A Load of Cubanisms”)…
- Black Sox Scandal (American history)
Black Sox Scandal, American baseball scandal centering on the charge that eight members of the Chicago White Sox had been bribed to lose the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. The accused players were pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude (“Lefty”) Williams, first baseman Arnold (“Chick”)
- black spot (plant disease)
black spot, common disease of a variety of plants caused by species of Pseudomonas bacteria or by any number of fungus species in the genera Asterina, Asterinella, Diplotheca, Glomerella, Gnomonia, Schizothyrium, Placosphaeria, and Stigmea. Infections occur during damp periods and appear as round
- black spruce (plant)
tree: Adaptations: For example, the black spruce (Picea mariana) is found in bogs and mountaintops in the northeastern United States but cannot compete well with other trees, such as red spruce (P. rubens), on better sites. Consequently, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the northeastern United States, red…
- Black Square (painting by Malevich)
Suprematism: …his first Suprematist work (Black Square, 1915), he identified the black square with feeling and the white background with expressing “the void beyond this feeling.”
- Black Star Line (American company)
Marcus Garvey: …Negro Factories Corporation and the Black Star Line (1919), as well as a chain of restaurants and grocery stores, laundries, a hotel, and a printing press.
- black state (historical territory, South Africa)
Bantustan, any of 10 former territories that were designated by the white-dominated government of South Africa as pseudo-national homelands for the country’s Black African (classified by the government as Bantu) population during the mid- to late 20th century. The Bantustans were a major
- black stem rust (plant disease)
cereal farming: Fungus diseases: …chief damage is caused by black rust. Because this fungus spends part of its life on cereals and part on the barberry bush, these bushes are often eradicated near wheat fields as a preventive measure. Black rust causes cereal plants to lose their green colour and turn yellow. The grain…
- Black Stone of Mecca (Islam)
Black Stone of Mecca, Muslim object of veneration, built into the eastern wall of the Kaʿbah (small shrine within the Great Mosque of Mecca) and probably dating from the pre-Islamic religion of the Arabs. It now consists of three large pieces and some fragments, surrounded by a stone ring and held
- black stork (bird)
stork: The black stork (Ciconia nigra) of Europe, Asia, and Africa is about 100 cm tall, black with a white spot on the belly and a red bill and red legs.
- Black Sun Press (French publishing house)
Harry Crosby: …in the 1920s, established the Black Sun Press.
- Black Sunday (film by Frankenheimer [1977])
John Frankenheimer: The 1970s and ’80s: …was popular, but it was Black Sunday (1977) that finally gave Frankenheimer his long-awaited major hit. An adaptation of Thomas Harris’s suspenseful best seller, it centres on an unstable Vietnam War veteran (Bruce Dern) who is involved in a plot to kill spectators during the Super Bowl; an Israeli officer…
- Black Sunlight (work by Dambudzo)
Dambudzo Marechera: In 1980 his novel Black Sunlight was published; less acclaimed than his first work, it is an explosive and chaotic stream-of-consciousness account of a photojournalist’s involvement with a revolutionary organization. Marechera returned to Zimbabwe in 1981; his mental and physical condition deteriorated, and he was often homeless. Mindblast, or…
- Black Swan (American company)
race records: …companies, among which the short-lived Black Swan label of Harry Pace is recognized as the first. Pace’s motto was “The only genuine colored record. Others are only passing for colored.” African American artists who recorded for Black Swan included Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters, and pianist and bandleader Fletcher Henderson. When…
- Black Swan (film by Aronofsky [2010])
Benjamin Millepied: …director Darren Aronofsky’s ballet thriller Black Swan (2010) thrust him into the public spotlight; he also danced a small role. During the filming, he became involved with actress Natalie Portman, a factor that only served to raise his profile; the couple married in 2012 and divorced in 2024.
- black swan (bird)
Swan River: …Vlamingh, was named for the black swans found there. Western Australia’s first free settlement was made on its banks in 1829.
- black swan event
black swan event, high-impact event that is difficult to predict under normal circumstances but that in retrospect appears to have been inevitable. A black swan event is unexpected and therefore difficult to prepare for but is often rationalized with the benefit of hindsight as having been
- Black Swan Green (work by Mitchell)
bildungsroman: … (1985) by Jeanette Winterson, and Black Swan Green (2006) by David Mitchell.
- Black Swan, The (film by King [1942])
Henry King: Films of the 1940s: …King shifted gears to make The Black Swan, a first-rate swashbuckler based on a Rafael Sabatini novel. Power portrayed a buccaneer, and Maureen O’Hara was his love interest. The director then ventured into religious dramas with The Song of Bernadette (1943), an adaptation of Franzel Werfel’s best-selling book about a…
- Black Swan, The (work by Mann)
Thomas Mann: Later novels of Thomas Mann: …and The Holy Sinner and The Black Swan, published in 1951 and 1953, respectively, show a relaxation of intensity in spite of their accomplished, even virtuoso style. Mann rounded off his imaginative work in 1954 with The Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man, the light, often uproariously funny story of…
- Black Tai (people)
Laos: Ethnic groups and languages: …as the Tai Dam (Black Tai; so named for their black clothing) in the northeast. Beyond the government’s three Lao groupings are communities of Chinese and Vietnamese, both of which are concentrated primarily in the large towns.
- black tea
tea: Black tea: Plucking the leaf initiates the withering stage, in which the leaf becomes flaccid and loses water until, from a fresh moisture content of 70 to 80 percent by weight, it arrives at a withered content of 55 to 70 percent, depending upon…
- black tern (bird)
tern: The black tern, S. nigra (sometimes Chlidonias niger), about 25 cm (10 inches) long, with a black head and underparts (white below in winter) and gray wings and back, breeds in temperate Eurasia and North America and winters in tropical Africa and South America. It is…
- black tetra (fish)
tetra: The black tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi), also called blackamoor, or petticoat fish, is a deep-bodied fish that is 4–7.5 cm (1.5–3 inches) long. When small, it is marked with black on its hind parts and dorsal and anal fins; the black fades to gray as the fish…
- Black theatre (American theater)
Black theatre, in the United States, dramatic movement encompassing plays written by, for, and about African Americans. The minstrel shows of the early 19th century are believed by some to be the roots of Black theatre, but they initially were written by whites, acted by whites in blackface, and
- Black Thought (American music artist)
the Roots: …was created in 1987 by Black Thought and Questlove—the only members who remained part of the band throughout its history—when they met as students at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. Originally calling themselves the Square Roots, they began performing on Philadelphia street corners. With the…
- Black Thunder (novel by Bontemps)
Black Thunder, historical novel by Arna Bontemps, published in 1936. One of Bontemps’s most popular works, this tale of a doomed early 19th-century slave revolt in Virginia was noted for its detailed portrait of a slave community and its skillful use of dialect. Although it was virtually unnoticed
- Black Thursday (American history [October 24, 1929])
Black Thursday, Thursday, October 24, 1929, the first day of the stock market crash of 1929, a catastrophic decline in the stock market of the United States that immediately preceded the worldwide Great Depression. That stock market crash (also called the Great Crash) is still considered the worst
- black tiger (mammal)
tiger: Black tigers have been reported less frequently from the dense forests of Myanmar (Burma), Bangladesh, and eastern India. The tiger has no mane, but in old males the hair on the cheeks is rather long and spreading. Although most classifications separate the species into six…
- black tiger snake (reptile)
tiger snake: The black tiger snake (N. ater) is mainly limited to arid and rocky regions in South Australia. Tiger snakes eat frogs, birds, and mammals, and all attain adult lengths of 1 to 1.5 metres (3 to 5 feet). They are live-bearers.