bureau, in the United States, a chest of drawers; in Europe a writing desk, usually with a hinged writing flap that rests at a sloping angle when closed and, when opened, reveals a tier of pigeonholes, small drawers, and sometimes a small cupboard. The bureau (French: “office”) first appeared in

International Peace Bureau, international organization founded in 1891 in Bern, Switz., to create a central office through which peace activities of several countries could be coordinated. The Peace Bureau was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1910, after having been nominated during 7 of the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), international organization founded to bring about the unification of measurement systems, to establish and preserve fundamental international standards and prototypes, to verify national standards, and to determine fundamental physical constants.

Charles-Albert Gobat: …Bern and which founded the Bureau Interparlementaire. He served as general secretary of the bureau, an information office dealing with peace movements, international conciliation, and communication among national parliamentary bodies. The third conference of the union, held in Rome in 1891, established the International Peace Bureau, of which Gobat was…

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), agency within the United States Department of Justice that is responsible for enforcing federal laws relating to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. The ATF headquarters are in Washington, D.C. The bureau’s agents are dispersed

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), agency of the Indian government established in 1987 to devise uniform standards of quality for broad categories of manufactured and agricultural goods, to perform product testing, and to license the use of an official mark to indicate that a product has been

world’s fair: …governed and regulated by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), a Paris-based organization established in 1928. Its objective is to bring order to exposition scheduling and to make clear the rights and responsibilities of the host city and participants. The original convention that established the BIE and set up guidelines…

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for the standardization of weights and measures, timekeeping, and navigation. Established by an act of Congress in 1901, the agency works closely with the U.S. Naval Observatory and the

Ahmed Ben Bella: It was this latter “Bureau Politique” that Ben Bella ran.

bureaucracy, specific form of organization defined by complexity, division of labour, permanence, professional management, hierarchical coordination and control, strict chain of command, and legal authority. It is distinguished from informal and collegial organizations. In its ideal form,

history of Latin America: Bureaucratic authoritarianism: Allende as president combined Marxist assault on the owners of the means of production with populist lavishing of short-term benefits on his working-class followers, and on both counts he stirred violent resentment among upper- and middle-class Chileans as well as attracting the adamant…

political science: Post-World War II trends and debates: …The French sociologist Michel Crozier’s The Bureaucratic Phenomenon (1964) found that Weber’s idealized bureaucracy is quite messy, political, and varied. Each bureaucracy is a political subculture; what is rational and routine in one bureau may be quite different in another. Crozier thus influenced the subsequent “bureaucratic politics” approach of the…

bureaucratic politics approach, theoretical approach to public policy that emphasizes internal bargaining within the state. The bureaucratic politics approach argues that policy outcomes result from a game of bargaining among a small, highly placed group of governmental actors. These actors come to

Algeria: Colonial rule: …by military officers organized into Arab Bureaus, whose members were officers with an intimate knowledge of local affairs and of the language of the people but with no direct financial interest in the colony. The officers, therefore, often sympathized with the outlook of the people they administered rather than with…

Dacia: About 60–50 bce King Burebista unified and expanded the kingdom, establishing it as a significant regional power. He overwhelmed the Greek cities on the north Black Sea coast and expanded his borders west beyond the Tisza River, north to modern Slovakia, and south of the Danube to the area…

Western painting: Institutional critique, feminism, and conceptual art: 1968 and its aftermath: …these was the French artist Daniel Buren, who from 1965 produced standardized stripe paintings that were incorporated into various settings: banners in front of public buildings, billboards, bus shelters, and so on. By implication, Buren asserted that painting had to develop a new relationship with the everyday world. Belgian artist…

Bill Cosby: Sexual assault allegations: …an October performance by comedian Hannibal Buress in which he called Cosby a rapist prompted even more women to accuse Cosby of past sexual misconduct. While he had not faced charges related to the new accusations, his reputation was so damaged by them that both NBC and Netflix pulled planned…

Central Asian arts: Paleolithic cultures: …of Irkutsk, and that of Buret, 80 miles (130 kilometres) to the north, are noted for their mammoth-tusk figurines of nude women. They resemble Paleolithic statuettes from Europe and the Middle East and probably served as fertility symbols or as representations of the great goddess, whose cult was widespread. Some…

burette, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid

burette, laboratory apparatus used in quantitative chemical analysis to measure the volume of a liquid or a gas. It consists of a graduated glass tube with a stopcock (turning plug, or spigot) at one end. On a liquid burette, the stopcock is at the bottom, and the precise volume of the liquid

Amur River: Physiography: …important tributaries include the Zeya, Bureya, and Amgun rivers, which enter on the left bank from Siberia, the Sungari (Songhua) River entering on the right from China, and the Ussuri (Wusuli) River, which flows northward along China’s eastern border with Siberia until, just after entering Russia, it joins the Amur…

Joan Fontaine was an English American actress who was known for her portrayals of troubled beauties. De Havilland was born in Tokyo, where her English father worked as a patent attorney and language professor; her mother was an actress. In 1919 she and her elder sister, Olivia, moved with their

Burford, town (parish), West Oxfordshire district, administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, southern England. It is located on the River Windrush, in the Cotswolds. The town was acquired by Robert FitzHamon, earl of Gloucester, who granted it a market in 1088 and England’s earliest

Hofburg, vast complex of buildings in the center of Vienna, Austria, that was the former imperial palace and winter palace of the Habsburg dynasty and has been since 1946 the official residence and office of the president of Austria. There are buildings within the complex dating from the 13th

Yosef Burg was a German-born Jewish rabbi and Israeli politician who was the longest-serving member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), holding his seat from the Knesset’s first session in 1949 until his retirement in 1986. Burg studied at the University of Berlin and in 1933 earned a doctorate in

Yosef Burg was a German-born Jewish rabbi and Israeli politician who was the longest-serving member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), holding his seat from the Knesset’s first session in 1949 until his retirement in 1986. Burg studied at the University of Berlin and in 1933 earned a doctorate in

Yosef Burg was a German-born Jewish rabbi and Israeli politician who was the longest-serving member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), holding his seat from the Knesset’s first session in 1949 until his retirement in 1986. Burg studied at the University of Berlin and in 1933 earned a doctorate in

burgage, in Normandy, England, and Scotland, an ancient form of tenure that applied to property within the boundaries of boroughs, or burghs. In England land or tenements within a borough were held by payment of rent to the king or some other lord; the terms varied in different boroughs. Among

Burgas, port and town, southeastern Bulgaria, on the Gulf of Burgas, an inlet of the Black Sea. Founded in the 17th century as a fishing village on the site of medieval Pyrgos, it developed after Bulgaria’s liberation (1878), mainly with the arrival of the railway from Sofia (1890) and harbour

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi: …directed an educational establishment in Burgdorf and from 1805 until 1825 a boarding school at Yverdon, near Neuchâtel. Both schools relied for funds on fee-paying pupils, though some poor children were taken in, and these institutes served as experimental bases for proving his method in its three branches—intellectual, moral, and…

Philip Johnson: …endeavours (1967–91) was the architect John Henry Burgee.

Burgenland, Bundesland (federal state), eastern Austria, bordering Hungary on the east, and Bundesländer Niederösterreich (Lower Austria) on the northwest and Steiermark (Styria) on the southwest. It has an area of 1,531 square miles (3,965 square km). Derived from parts of the four former west

hamburger, ground beef. The term is applied variously to (1) a patty of ground beef, sometimes called hamburg steak, Salisbury steak, or Vienna steak, (2) a sandwich consisting of a patty of ground beef served within a split bread roll, with various garnishes, or (3) the ground beef itself, which

Burger King Corporation, restaurant company specializing in flame-broiled fast-food hamburgers. It is the second largest hamburger chain in the United States, after McDonald’s, and one of the most successful brands in fast-food history. In the early 21st century, Burger King claimed to have about

Georg Kaiser: …Die Bürger von Calais (1914; The Burghers of Calais). Produced in 1917 at the height of World War I, the play was an appeal for peace in which Kaiser revealed his outstanding gift for constructing close-knit drama expressed in trenchant and impassioned language. He followed this with a series of…

South Africa: Literature: Nadine Gordimer’s Burger’s Daughter (1979), and Breyten Breytenbach’s In Africa Even the Flies Are Happy (1977). Also during this time, the government enacted the Publications Act of 1974, which expanded and strengthened existing censorship policies. Many authors went into exile; some did not return until the 1990s,…

Leonhard Frank: …his novel Der Bürger (1924; A Middle-Class Man) and in Das ochsenfurter Männerquartett (1927; The Singers). During the same period he wrote his masterpiece, Karl und Anna (1926; Carl and Anna), a realistic, if sentimental, account of a soldier who seduces his comrade’s wife.

Die Burger, daily newspaper published in Cape Town, South Africa, the largest of the country’s newspapers written in Afrikaans. Die Burger is known both for its generally balanced presentation of the news and for its support of policies of the South African government. It firmly supported the

Gottfried August Bürger was one of the founders of German Romantic ballad literature whose style reflects the renewed interest in folk song (Volkspoesie) in Europe during the late 1700s. Bürger was educated in theology at the University of Halle and in law at the University of Göttingen. It was in

Dayton Accords: The road toward peace: …to Deputy National Security Adviser Samuel Berger, who chaired the deputies’ committee meetings, which kept people in the national security operations of other nations informed of what was going on without allowing too much interference; and to UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright, who effectively advocated the United States’ strong position in…

Warren E. Burger was the 15th chief justice (1969–86) of the United States Supreme Court. After graduating with honours from St. Paul (now William Mitchell) College of Law in 1931, Burger joined a prominent St. Paul law firm and gradually became active in Republican Party politics. In 1953 he was

Warren E. Burger was the 15th chief justice (1969–86) of the United States Supreme Court. After graduating with honours from St. Paul (now William Mitchell) College of Law in 1931, Burger joined a prominent St. Paul law firm and gradually became active in Republican Party politics. In 1953 he was

German Civil Code, the body of codified private law that went into effect in the German empire in 1900. Though it has been modified, it remains in effect. The code grew out of a desire for a truly national law that would override the often conflicting customs and codes of the various German

domestic tragedy, drama in which the tragic protagonists are ordinary middle-class or lower-class individuals, in contrast to classical and Neoclassical tragedy, in which the protagonists are of kingly or aristocratic rank and their downfall is an affair of state as well as a personal matter. The

burgomaster, mayor or chief magistrate of a German town, city, or rural commune. The title is also used in such countries as Belgium (bourgmeistre) and the Netherlands (burgemeester). Most German towns have a burgomaster, but larger cities may have several, one being the chief burgomaster

Bremen: Geography: The best known are the Bürgerpark, with its famous rhododendron gardens, and the former ramparts, which were demolished in 1802 and which now form promenades surrounding the Old Town.

Thomas François Burgers was a theologian and controversial president (1871–77) of the Transvaal who in 1877 allowed the British to annex the republic. After graduating as a doctor of theology from the University of Utrecht, Burgers in 1859 returned to Cape Colony, where he became the minister of

Protestantism: Events under Charles I: Cornelius Burges and Stephen Marshall were appointed to preach that day to members of Parliament. Their sermons urged the nation to renew its covenant with God in order to bring about true religion through the maintenance of “an able, godly, faithful, zealous, profitable, preaching ministry…

William Burges was one of England’s most notable Gothic Revival architects, a critic, and an arbiter of Victorian taste. During Burges’s apprenticeship he studied medieval architecture, visiting the Continent to gain firsthand impressions. In 1856 he received the first award in an international

Elizabeth Strout: The Burgess Boys (2013) takes place in Shirley Falls, Maine, the fictional setting of Amy and Isabelle. It explores family dynamics as two brothers try to help their divorced sister and her son, who has been charged with a hate crime.

Burgess Shale, fossil formation containing remarkably detailed traces of soft-bodied biota of the Middle Cambrian Epoch (520 to 512 million years ago). Collected from a fossil bed in the Burgess Pass of the Canadian Rockies, the Burgess Shale is one of the best preserved and most important fossil

Anthony Burgess was an English novelist, critic, and man of letters whose fictional explorations of modern dilemmas combine wit, moral earnestness, and a note of the bizarre. Trained in English literature and phonetics, Burgess taught in the extramural department of Birmingham University (1946–50),

Ernest Watson Burgess was an American sociologist known for his research into the family as a social unit. Burgess received his B.A. (1908) from Kingfisher College (Oklahoma) and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1913). He taught at the Universities of Toledo (Ohio) and Kansas and at Ohio

Gelett Burgess was an American humorist and illustrator, best known for a single, early, whimsical quatrain: Burgess was educated as an engineer and worked briefly for a railroad in that capacity. Between 1891 and 1894 he taught topographical drawing at the University of California. In 1895 Burgess

Gelett Burgess was an American humorist and illustrator, best known for a single, early, whimsical quatrain: Burgess was educated as an engineer and worked briefly for a railroad in that capacity. Between 1891 and 1894 he taught topographical drawing at the University of California. In 1895 Burgess

Guy Burgess was a British diplomat who spied for the Soviet Union in World War II and early in the Cold War period. At the University of Cambridge in the 1930s, Burgess was part of a group of upper-middle-class students—including Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, and Anthony Blunt—who disagreed with the

Hugh Burgess was a British-born American inventor who, with Charles Watt, developed the soda process used to turn wood pulp into paper. Little is known of his early life. In 1851 he and Watt developed a process in which pulpwood was cut into small chips, boiled in a solution of caustic alkali at

goggles: …swimming occurred in 1911, when Thomas Burgess wore something similar to motorcycle goggles while crossing the English Channel. In 1926 Gertrude Ederle used a similar style of goggles sealed with paraffin wax to protect her eyes from the salt water when she swam the channel. The advent of underwater skin…

Thornton W. Burgess was a U.S. children’s author and naturalist. He loved nature as a child. His first book, Old Mother West Wind (1910), introduced the animal characters that were to populate his subsequent stories, which were published in many languages. He promoted conservationism through his

Thornton W. Burgess was a U.S. children’s author and naturalist. He loved nature as a child. His first book, Old Mother West Wind (1910), introduced the animal characters that were to populate his subsequent stories, which were published in many languages. He promoted conservationism through his

House of Burgesses, representative assembly in colonial Virginia, which was an outgrowth of the first elective governing body in a British overseas possession, the General Assembly of Virginia. The General Assembly was established by Gov. George Yeardley at Jamestown on July 30, 1619. It included

burgrave, in medieval Germany, one appointed to command a burg (fortified town) with the rank of count (Graf or comes). Later the title became hereditary and was associated with a

burgrave, in medieval Germany, one appointed to command a burg (fortified town) with the rank of count (Graf or comes). Later the title became hereditary and was associated with a

Burgh Family, a historic Anglo-Irish family associated with Connaught. Its founder was William de Burgo, of a knightly family from eastern England; he and his descendants were granted much of Connaught in the late 12th century, and his grandson Walter was also granted Ulster. Although Walter’s

Hubert de Burgh was the justiciar for young King Henry III of England (ruled 1216–72) who restored royal authority after a major baronial uprising. Hubert became chamberlain to King John (ruled 1199–1216) in 1197, and in June 1215 he was made justiciar. When recalcitrant barons rebelled against

Richard de Burgh, 2nd earl of Ulster was one of the most powerful Irish nobles of the late 13th and early 14th centuries. He was a member of a historic Anglo-Irish family, the Burghs, and son of Walter de Burgh (c. 1230–71), the 1st earl of Ulster (of the second creation). In 1286 he ravaged

Richard de Burgh, 2nd earl of Ulster: 1230–71), the 1st earl of Ulster (of the second creation).

bourgeoisie, the social order that is dominated by the so-called middle class. In social and political theory, the notion of the bourgeoisie was largely a construct of Karl Marx (1818–83) and of those who were influenced by him. In popular speech, the term connotes philistinism, materialism, and a

Sri Lanka: Ethnic composition: Burghers (a community of mixed European descent), Parsis (immigrants from western India), and Veddas (regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants of the country) total less than 1 percent of the population.

Elaine de Kooning: …drug abuse, in her painting The Burghers of Amsterdam Avenue.

Georg Kaiser: …Die Bürger von Calais (1914; The Burghers of Calais). Produced in 1917 at the height of World War I, the play was an appeal for peace in which Kaiser revealed his outstanding gift for constructing close-knit drama expressed in trenchant and impassioned language. He followed this with a series of…

Auguste Rodin: Toward the achievement of his art: Rodin completed work on The Burghers of Calais within two years, but the monument was not dedicated until 1895. In 1913 a bronze casting of the Calais group was installed in the gardens of Parliament in London to commemorate the intervention of the English queen who had compelled her…

Burghley House, Tudor-era country house and estate located in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It was built by Sir William Cecil from 1555–87 and is considered one of the most magnificent houses of the Elizabethan Age. Cecil, later Lord Burghley, was lord treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I and one of

David George Brownlow Cecil was a British athlete and Olympic champion who was an outstanding performer in the athletics (track-and-field) events of hurdling and running. He was also the eldest son and heir of the 5th marquess of Exeter. Cecil was born into an aristocratic family. He had an

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley was the principal adviser to England’s Queen Elizabeth I through most of her reign. Cecil was a master of Renaissance statecraft, whose talents as a diplomat, politician, and administrator won him high office and a peerage. By service to the Tudors and marriage to

M*A*S*H: “Radar” O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff, reprising the role he had played in the film). Another corporal, Max Klinger (Jamie Farr), frequently cross-dressed in the hope that it would earn him a medical discharge and flight home.

Joost Bürgi was a mathematician who invented logarithms independently of the Scottish mathematician John Napier. Bürgi served as court watchmaker to Duke Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel from 1579 to 1592 and worked in the royal observatory at Kassel, where he developed geometrical and astronomical

Joost Bürgi was a mathematician who invented logarithms independently of the Scottish mathematician John Napier. Bürgi served as court watchmaker to Duke Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel from 1579 to 1592 and worked in the royal observatory at Kassel, where he developed geometrical and astronomical

Western painting: Politics, commerce, and abjection in 1980s art: …work of the British artist Victor Burgin was a key precedent for this tendency. As a conceptualist he had produced a clever piece of pseudo-advertising—a poster (Possession, 1976) that appeared on billboards throughout Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, showing a couple embracing (as in ads for deodorant or jewelry), with the words “What…

Toggenburg Succession: …and in 1712 the abbot Leodegar Bürgisser’s efforts to reassert his traditional rights over Toggenburg in order to strengthen Swiss Catholicism provoked the leading Protestant confederates, Zürich and Bern, to undertake the Toggenburg (or Second Villmergen) War, in which they quickly defeated the Abbot’s five Catholic supporters, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz,…

Hans Burgkmair, the Elder was a painter and woodcut artist, one of the first German artists to show the influence of the Italian Renaissance. The son of a painter, he became a member of the painters’ guild in Strasbourg in 1490 and in Augsburg in 1498. Some 700 woodcuts are ascribed to him,

burglary, in criminal law, the breaking and entering of the premises of another with an intent to commit a felony within. Burglary is one of the specific crimes included in the general category of theft

Burgh Family, a historic Anglo-Irish family associated with Connaught. Its founder was William de Burgo, of a knightly family from eastern England; he and his descendants were granted much of Connaught in the late 12th century, and his grandson Walter was also granted Ulster. Although Walter’s

burgomaster, mayor or chief magistrate of a German town, city, or rural commune. The title is also used in such countries as Belgium (bourgmeistre) and the Netherlands (burgemeester). Most German towns have a burgomaster, but larger cities may have several, one being the chief burgomaster

Maurice Maeterlinck: …Le Bourgmestre de Stilmonde (1917; The Burgomaster of Stilmonde), a patriotic play in which he explores the problems of Flanders under the wartime rule of an unprincipled German officer, briefly enjoyed great success.

biblical literature: Literal interpretation: …the 19th-century English biblical scholar John William Burgon:

stew: …tomatoes, okra, and onions; Kentucky’s burgoo is similar, adding beef and potatoes, carrots, turnips, and other vegetables.

Burgos, city, capital of Burgos provincia (province), in Castile-León comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), northern Spain. It is located on the lower slopes of a castle-crowned hill overlooking the Arlanzón River, about 2,600 feet (800 metres) above sea level. Founded in 884 as an eastern

Burgos, provincia (province) in the Castile-León comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), north-central Spain. It was created in 1833. Burgos province also includes the enclave of Treviño, which is administratively part of Álava province. Burgos is crossed by the Ebro River in the north and the

Spanish literature: Novecentismo: Among women writers, Carmen de Burgos Seguí (pseudonym Colombine) wrote hundreds of articles, more than 50 short stories, some dozen long novels and numerous short ones, many practical books for women, and socially oriented treatises on subjects such as divorce. An active suffragist and opponent of the death…

Pedro Ponce de León: …achieved his first success with Gaspard Burgos, a deaf man who, because of his difficulty with oral communication, had been denied membership in the Benedictine order. Under Ponce’s tutelage, Burgos learned to speak so that he could make his confession. Burgos later wrote a number of books. Ponce taught several…

José Burgos was a Roman Catholic priest who advocated the reform of Spanish rule in the Philippines. His execution made him a martyr of the period preceding the Philippine Revolution. Burgos studied at San Juan de Letran College and the University of Santo Tomás in Manila, earning a doctorate of

encomienda: …of the system with the Laws of Burgos (1512–13) and the New Law of the Indies (1542) failed in the face of colonial opposition. In fact, a revised form of the repartimiento system was revived after 1550.

John Burgoyne was a British general, best remembered for his defeat by superior American forces in the Saratoga (New York) campaign of 1777, during the American Revolution. After serving with distinction in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63), Burgoyne was elected to the House of Commons in 1761 and

burgrave, in medieval Germany, one appointed to command a burg (fortified town) with the rank of count (Graf or comes). Later the title became hereditary and was associated with a

Victor, 3 duke de Broglie: …conservative group known as the “Burgraves,” he did his best to stem the tide of socialism and to avert the reaction in favour of autocracy. After the coup d’état of Dec. 3, 1851, he was one of the bitterest enemies of Napoleon III’s regime. From 1855 he was a member…

French literature: Hugo: The failure of Hugo’s Les Burgraves (1843; “The Commanders”), an overinflated epic melodrama, is commonly seen as the beginning of the end of Romantic theatre.

burgrave, in medieval Germany, one appointed to command a burg (fortified town) with the rank of count (Graf or comes). Later the title became hereditary and was associated with a

Burgred was the king of Mercia (from 852/853) who was driven out by the Danes and went to Rome. In 852 or 853 he called upon Aethelwulf of Wessex to aid him in subduing the North Welsh. The request was granted and the campaign proved successful, the alliance being sealed by the marriage of Burgred

Vienna: Music and theatre: The Burgtheater, founded in 1776, is one of the most highly regarded German-language theatres in Europe. In addition to several large theatres, Vienna has numerous small theatres, which provide a home for more avant-garde works.