- Basler und Zürcher Bankverein (Swiss bank)
Swiss Bank Corporation, former Swiss bank, one of the largest banks in Switzerland until its merger with the Union Bank of Switzerland in 1998. The Swiss Bank Corporation was established in 1872 as the Basler Bankverein, specializing in investment banking. In an 1895 merger with Zürcher Bankverein,
- BASM (British organization)
British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM), organization founded in 1953 by a group of doctors, sports scientists, and those from allied disciplines who were involved in the care of athletes. The group’s main objectives include representing doctors working in the sport and exercise
- Basmachestvo (Russian history)
Basmachi Revolt, insurrection against Soviet rule in Central Asia, begun in 1917 and largely suppressed by 1926. An amalgam of Muslim traditionalists and common bandits, the Basmachi were soon widespread over most of Turkistan, much of which was under regimes independent of but allied to Soviet
- Basmachi Revolt (Russian history)
Basmachi Revolt, insurrection against Soviet rule in Central Asia, begun in 1917 and largely suppressed by 1926. An amalgam of Muslim traditionalists and common bandits, the Basmachi were soon widespread over most of Turkistan, much of which was under regimes independent of but allied to Soviet
- basmalah (Islamic prayer)
basmalah, in Islam, the prayer formula Bism Allāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm (“In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate”). This invocation, which was first introduced by the Qurʾān, appears at the beginning of every Qurʾānic surah (chapter) except the ninth (which presents a unique textual
- Basmil Turk (people)
China: Military reorganization: …an alliance with the southwestern Basmil Turks and with the Khitan in Manchuria. Bilge, however, crushed the Basmil and attacked Gansu in 720. Peaceful relations were established in 721–722. Bilge’s death in 734 precipitated the end of Turkish power. A struggle among the various Turkish subject tribes followed, from which…
- Basoche (French literary society)
French literature: Secular drama: …of actors, such as the Basoches (associations of lawyers and clerks) and the Enfants sans Souci (probably a special group of Basochiens) in Paris. The societies frequently presented plays in triple bills: first a sotie, a slight, sometimes satiric, sketch; next a moralité (morality play), a didactic and often allegorical…
- Basodino (mountain, Switzerland)
Ticino: …feet (3,273 metres) at the Basodino. The canton is dominated physically by three river systems occupying steep-sided valleys extending from the mountain frontier southward to Lake Maggiore. The chief system is that of the Ticino River, which rises in the northwest, flows east through the Bedretto valley and then southeast…
- Basoga (people)
Soga, an Interlacustrine Bantu-speaking people inhabiting the area east of the Nile River between Lakes Victoria and Kyoga. They are the fourth largest ethnic group in Uganda. Culturally, they are very similar to the Ganda, who inhabit the region immediately to the west. Prosperous by national
- Basohli painting (Indian art)
Basohli painting, school of Pahari miniature painting that flourished in the Indian hill states during the late 17th and the 18th centuries, known for its bold vitality of colour and line. Though the school takes its name from the small independent state of Basohli, the principal centre of the
- Basommatophora (gastropod superorder)
gastropod: Classification: Superorder Basommatophora Mantle cavity present; eyes at base of 1 pair of tentacles; male and female gonopore separate, usually on right side of body; shell conical to patelliform; mostly freshwater but a few land and marine taxa; about 1,000 species. (No agreement exists concerning suprafamilial classification…
- basophil (blood cell)
basophil, type of white blood cell (leukocyte) that is characterized histologically by its ability to be stained by basic dyes and functionally by its role in mediating hypersensitivity reactions of the immune system. Basophils, along with eosinophils and neutrophils, constitute a group of white
- Basotho (people)
Sotho: …the southern Sotho (often called Basuto) of Lesotho and adjoining areas.
- Basotho Congress Party (political party, Lesotho)
Southern Africa: Lesotho, Botswana, and Swaziland: …1952 Ntsu Mokhehle formed the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP), modeled on the ANC. In 1958 Chief Leabua Jonathan, who was to become Lesotho’s first prime minister, founded the conservative Basutoland National Party (BNP), with the support of the South African government, the powerful Roman Catholic church, and the queen regent.…
- Basotho National Party (political party, Lesotho)
flag of Lesotho: …flag of his own ruling Basotho National Party, which had four equal horizontal stripes from top to bottom of blue, white, red, and green. Other parties objected, and instead the national flag displayed green, red, and blue vertically with a white silhouette version of a typical Sotho straw hat.
- Basotho Qwaqwa (region, South Africa)
Qwaqwa, former nonindependent Bantustan, Orange Free State, South Africa, designated for the southern Sotho (often called Basuto) people. Located in a section of the Drakensberg, Qwaqwa was a glen among mountains at elevations from 5,500 feet to more than 10,000 feet (1,675 m to more than 3,050 m).
- Basov, Nikolay (Soviet physicist)
Nikolay Basov was a Soviet physicist, one of the founders of quantum electronics, and a corecipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1964, with Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Prokhorov of the Soviet Union and Charles H. Townes of the United States, for research leading to the development of both the maser
- Basque (people)
Basque, member of a people who live in both Spain and France in areas bordering the Bay of Biscay and encompassing the western foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. In the late 20th century probably about 850,000 true Basques lived in Spain and 130,000 in France; as many as 170,000 Basques may live
- Basque Country (region, France)
Basque Country, cultural region within the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, extreme southwestern France, bordering the western Pyrenees Mountains where they adjoin the Basque provincias of Spain, along the Bay of Biscay. The region extends from the Anie Peak of the Pyrenees to the magnificent
- Basque Country (region, Spain)
Basque Country, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of northern Spain encompassing the provincias (provinces) of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya (Biscay). The Basque Country is bounded by the Bay of Biscay to the north and the autonomous communities of Navarra to the east,
- Basque Euskadi (region, Spain)
Basque Country, comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) and historic region of northern Spain encompassing the provincias (provinces) of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya (Biscay). The Basque Country is bounded by the Bay of Biscay to the north and the autonomous communities of Navarra to the east,
- Basque Homeland and Liberty (Basque organization)
ETA, Basque separatist organization in Spain that used terrorism in its campaign for an independent Basque state. ETA grew out of the Basque Nationalist Party (Partido Nacionalista Vasco; PNV), which was founded in 1894 and which managed to survive, though illegally, under the fascist regime of
- Basque language
Basque language, language isolate, the only remnant of the languages spoken in southwestern Europe before the region was Romanized in the 2nd through 1st century bce. The Basque language is predominantly used in an area comprising approximately 3,900 square miles (10,000 square kilometres) in Spain
- Basque literature
Basque literature, the body of work, both oral and written, in the Basque language (Euskara) produced in the Basque Country autonomous community in northern Spain and the Basque Country region in southwestern France. The history of Basque oral literature is most evident in the verses and melodies
- Basque Nationalist Party (political organization, Basque region)
Basque Nationalist Party, Basque political party that supports greater autonomy for the Basque Country (including Navarra) within Spain. The Basque Nationalist Party (commonly known by the combined Basque and Spanish acronym, EAJ-PNV) was established in 1895 in Bilbao by journalist Sabino de Arana
- Basque Workers’ Solidarity (labor organization, Spain)
Spain: Labour and taxation: …Sindical Independiente de Funcionarios); the Basque Workers’ Solidarity (Euzko Langilleen Alkartasuna–Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos; ELA-STV), which is independent but has ties to the Basque Nationalist Party; and the General Confederation of Labour (Confederación General del Trabajo; CGT), the tiny remnant of the once-powerful anarcho-syndicalist union organization. Overall, with about one-sixth…
- Basque, Pays (region, France)
Basque Country, cultural region within the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, extreme southwestern France, bordering the western Pyrenees Mountains where they adjoin the Basque provincias of Spain, along the Bay of Biscay. The region extends from the Anie Peak of the Pyrenees to the magnificent
- Basquiat (film by Schnabel [1996])
Jean-Michel Basquiat: …subject of his first film, Basquiat (1996).
- Basquiat, Jean-Michel (American artist)
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American painter known for his raw gestural style of painting with graffiti-like images and scrawled text. Basquiat was raised in a middle-class home in Brooklyn. His mother was an American of Puerto Rican descent. She encouraged Basquiat’s interest in art, taking him to
- Basra (Iraq)
Basra, city, capital of Al-Baṣrah muḥāfaẓah (governorate), southeastern Iraq. It is the principal port of Iraq. Basra is situated on the western bank of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab (the waterway formed by the union of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) at its exit from Lake Al-Ḥammār, 70 miles (110 km) by
- Basra school (philology)
al-Aṣmaʿī: …three leading members of the Basra school of Arabic philology.
- Baṣrah, Al- (Iraq)
Basra, city, capital of Al-Baṣrah muḥāfaẓah (governorate), southeastern Iraq. It is the principal port of Iraq. Basra is situated on the western bank of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab (the waterway formed by the union of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) at its exit from Lake Al-Ḥammār, 70 miles (110 km) by
- Basrur, Sheela (Canadian physician and government official)
Sheela Basrur was the Canadian chief officer of medical health for the city of Toronto (1997–2004) and chief medical officer of health and assistant deputy minister of public health for the province of Ontario (2004–08). Basrur was born a year after her parents emigrated to Canada from India.
- bass (musical instrument)
double bass, stringed musical instrument, the lowest-pitched member of the orchestra, sounding an octave lower than the cello. It has two basic designs—one shaped like a viol (or viola da gamba) and the other like a violin—but there are other designs, such as that of a guitar. It varies
- bass (fish)
bass, in zoology, any of a large number of fishes, many of them valued for food or sport. The name bass covers a range of fishes, but most are placed in three families of the order Perciformes: Serranidae, including approximately 400 species of sea bass and grouper; Moronidae, sometimes considered
- bass (vocal range)
bass, in music, the lowest part in a multi-voiced musical texture. In polyphony of the sort that flourished during the Renaissance, the bass formed one of several relatively independent or contrapuntal melodies. During the figured-bass era (17th and early 18th centuries), the thorough bass, or
- bass (musical instrument)
bass, electrically amplified stringed musical instrument that has typically four to six heavy strings and is the lowest pitched type of guitar. The bass is further distinguished by its relatively long neck and scale length (the distance between the nut and the bridge); the latter ranges from 34 to
- bass bar (musical instrument)
stringed instrument: Morphology: This bar, called the bass bar, is deepest under the bridge but tapers to nothing at either end, since it fits into the internal curvature of the belly. Externally, the plates are finished off at the edges with a narrow inlay of laminated woods, the purfling, which follows the…
- bass clarinet (musical instrument)
clarinet: Bass clarinets in B♭ were at first built experimentally but after 1810 were built in many designs. The modern version, with twice-curved crook, was influenced by the 1838 design of the Belgian instrument-maker Adolphe Sax, to which the upturned bell was later added. Contrabass clarinets…
- bass clef (music)
clef: The bass, or F, clef sets the position of the F below middle C. In modern notation this is fixed at the second line from the top of the staff:
- bass drum (musical instrument)
bass drum, percussion instrument, the largest and deepest-sounding member of the drum family, usually played with a pair of large felt-headed sticks, or beaters. In modern popular-music bands the bass drum is often part of a drum set and is commonly struck by a single pedal-operated stick. In
- bass fiddle (musical instrument)
double bass, stringed musical instrument, the lowest-pitched member of the orchestra, sounding an octave lower than the cello. It has two basic designs—one shaped like a viol (or viola da gamba) and the other like a violin—but there are other designs, such as that of a guitar. It varies
- bass flute (musical instrument)
flute: …in consort with descant and bass flutes (pitched in D and C respectively). All were typically of boxwood with six finger holes and no keys, semitones being made by cross-fingering (uncovering the holes out of sequence), and retained the cylindrical bore of their Asiatic bamboo relatives. These 16th-century flutes were…
- bass guitar (musical instrument)
bass, electrically amplified stringed musical instrument that has typically four to six heavy strings and is the lowest pitched type of guitar. The bass is further distinguished by its relatively long neck and scale length (the distance between the nut and the bridge); the latter ranges from 34 to
- Bass Line (work by Hinton)
Milt Hinton: …pictures to illustrate his autobiography, Bass Line (1988), written in collaboration with David G. Berger. Over Time (1991) is a book of his photographs.
- Bass Nkome (people)
Igala: …the Bassa Nge and the Bass Nkome, who live between the Igala and the Benue River.
- bass reflex enclosure (sound)
electromechanical transducer: Electromagnetic speakers: The tuned port or bass reflex enclosure achieves greater efficiency and extends the bass frequency range by carefully adjusting the shape and position of a hole or tube connecting the inside of the speaker box with the outside. The volume of the box thus acts as a type of…
- Bass Rock (island, Scotland, United Kingdom)
Bass Rock, small island at the entrance of the Firth of Forth, northeast of the town of North Berwick, East Lothian council area, Scot. A weathered “plug” of volcanic material circular in shape, one mile in circumference and 350 feet (105 metres) high, Bass Rock rises precipitously from the sea,
- Bass Strait (strait, Australia)
Bass Strait, channel separating Victoria, Australia, from the island of Tasmania on the south. Its maximum width is 150 miles (240 km), and its depth is 180–240 feet (50–70 m). King Island and the Indian Ocean lie at its western extremity, and the Furneaux Group is at its eastern end. Banks Strait
- bass viol (musical instrument)
viol: …normal-sized solo bass viol, or viola da gamba (the name became synonymous with the bass viol as the other viols fell into disuse), was used in the instrumental forms of the Baroque period. Solo bass-viol playing continued in Germany and France into the 18th century. Elsewhere the bass viol survived…
- bass viol (musical instrument)
double bass, stringed musical instrument, the lowest-pitched member of the orchestra, sounding an octave lower than the cello. It has two basic designs—one shaped like a viol (or viola da gamba) and the other like a violin—but there are other designs, such as that of a guitar. It varies
- Bass, Charlotta Spears (American editor and activist)
Charlotta Spears Bass was an American editor, the first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States, and a civil rights activist whose long career was devoted to aggressively publicizing and combating racial inequality. Believed to have been born in Sumter, South Carolina, about 1880
- bass, double (musical instrument)
double bass, stringed musical instrument, the lowest-pitched member of the orchestra, sounding an octave lower than the cello. It has two basic designs—one shaped like a viol (or viola da gamba) and the other like a violin—but there are other designs, such as that of a guitar. It varies
- Bass, Edward P. (American businessman)
Biosphere 2: Ownership and management: …was funded by American businessman Edward P. Bass, who served as chairman and financial director for Space Biospheres Ventures. In 1994 Decisions Investments Corporation, which represented half of Space Biospheres Ventures and was operated and managed by Bass, gained complete control over Biosphere 2, buying out its venture partner Decisions…
- Bass, George (British explorer)
George Bass was a surgeon and sailor who was important in the early coastal survey of Australia. Bass was apprenticed as a surgeon and in 1789 accepted in the Company of Surgeons. He joined the Royal Navy, where his proficiency in navigation and seamanship and interest in Pacific exploration led to
- Bass, George Fletcher (American scientist)
archaeology: Underwater archaeology: …the Americans Peter Throckmorton and George Bass off the coast of southern Turkey. In 1958 Throckmorton found a graveyard of ancient ships at Yassı Ada and then discovered the oldest shipwreck ever recorded, at Cape Gelidonya—a Bronze Age shipwreck of the 14th century bce. George Bass of the University of…
- Bass, Karen (American politician)
Eric Garcetti: Garcetti was succeeded by Congresswoman Karen Bass, who became the first Black woman to serve as the mayor of Los Angeles. She assumed the role in December 2022, in the aftermath of a scandal that had arisen in late 2022 involving the release of a recording of a 2021 meeting…
- Bass, Randy (American baseball player and politician)
Oh Sadaharu: Randy Bass in 1985, Karl (“Tuffy”) Rhodes in 2001, and Alex Cabrera in 2002, all foreign players, threatened Oh’s record for most home runs (55) in a season in Japanese baseball. And in all three instances the prevailing attitude of Oh and others in Japanese…
- Bass, Sam (American outlaw)
Sam Bass was an American Western outlaw who was finally gunned down by the Texas Rangers. Bass left his Indiana home at age 18 and drifted to Texas, where in 1874 he befriended Joel Collins. In 1876 Bass and Collins went north on a cattle drive but turned to robbing stagecoaches; in September 1877
- Bass, Saul (American director)
Saul Bass was an American graphic designer and filmmaker who introduced a new art form with his imaginative film title sequences that conveyed the essence of a movie and prepared audiences for what they were about to see. Bass was a creative child who enjoyed drawing. After completing high school,
- Bassa (people)
Liberia: Ethnic groups and languages: Kwa-speaking peoples include the Bassa, the largest group in this category and the largest ethnic group in Monrovia; the Kru and Grebo, who were among the earliest converts to Christianity; the De; Belleh (Belle); and Krahn. The Kwa-speaking group occupies the southern half of the country. The Mel group…
- Bassa language
Kru languages: …with some 500,000 speakers, and Bassa, with some 350,000 speakers. In eastern Kru the Bete language complex numbers more than 500,000 speakers.
- Bassa Nge (people)
Igala: …governed two other groups, the Bassa Nge and the Bass Nkome, who live between the Igala and the Benue River.
- Bassac (river, Vietnam)
Rach Gia: …with the Hau Giang (Bassac) River, which is a major branch of the lower Mekong River. The city has a hospital and a commercial airport. Cultural features include a pagoda built under the emperor Gia Long and a Cambodian Buddhist pagoda 2 miles (3 km) north of the city.…
- Bassac (Laos)
Champasak, town, southern Laos. It lies on the west bank of the Mekong River, within an agricultural region of rolling plains and alluvial lowlands whose mountainous core is an eastern outlier of the Dângrêk Mountains. The town lies some 30 miles (48 km) east of the Laos-Thailand border and about
- Bassae (ancient city, Greece)
Bassae, ancient Greek city on the Neda River in southwestern Arcadia. The city is now chiefly known as the site of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios (Epicurius; “the Helper”), built c. 450–425 bce. Pausanias, a Greek geographer of the 2nd century ce, considered the temple one of the finest in the
- Bassani, Giorgio (Italian author)
Giorgio Bassani was an Italian author and editor noted for his novels and stories examining individual lives played out against the background of modern history. The author’s Jewish heritage and the life of the Jewish community in Ferrara, Italy, are among his recurrent themes. Bassani grew up in
- Bassanio (fictional character)
The Merchant of Venice: Bassanio, a noble but penniless Venetian, asks his wealthy merchant friend Antonio for a loan so that Bassanio can undertake a journey to woo the heiress Portia. Antonio, whose money is invested in foreign ventures, borrows the sum from Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, on the…
- Bassano del Grappa (Italy)
Bassano del Grappa, town, Veneto regione, northern Italy, on the Brenta River at the foot of Monte Grappa, north of Padua. Between 1036 and 1259 the town became important under the Ezzelini family, who built the castle the walls of which enclose the often-renovated cathedral. Later disputed by
- Bassano, Francesco (Italian painter)
Jacopo Bassano: …sons were all painters, and Francesco the Younger (1549–92) and Leandro (1557–1622) were important in the continuity of the workshop; many Bassano paintings are the product of a family collaboration. Francesco the Younger had a predilection for the rural scenes begun by his father, and he developed this aspect of…
- Bassano, Hugues-Bernard Maret, duc de (French diplomat)
Hugues-Bernard Maret, duke de Bassano was a French diplomat and statesman of the Napoleonic period. A journalist in the early stages of the French Revolution, Maret entered the diplomatic service in 1792. After the coup d’état of 18 Brumaire (Nov. 9, 1799), Napoleon appointed him secretary of state
- Bassano, Jacopo (Italian painter)
Jacopo Bassano was a late Renaissance painter of the Venetian school, known for his religious paintings, lush landscapes, and scenes of everyday life. The son of a provincial artist, Francesco the Elder, who adopted the name Bassano, he was the outstanding member of a thriving family workshop. His
- Bassano, Leandro (Italian painter)
Jacopo Bassano: …Francesco the Younger (1549–92) and Leandro (1557–1622) were important in the continuity of the workshop; many Bassano paintings are the product of a family collaboration. Francesco the Younger had a predilection for the rural scenes begun by his father, and he developed this aspect of the workshop. He was entrusted…
- Bassanowicz, Jonas (Lithuanian physician)
Jonas Basanavičius was a physician, folklorist, and a leader of the Lithuanian national movement. In 1873 Basanavičius went to Moscow to study history and archaeology but after a year changed to medicine. He was graduated in 1879 and spent most of the next 25 years practicing medicine in Bulgaria.
- Bassar (Togo)
Bassar, town, north-central Togo. The town lies in a major cotton growing area about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Sokodé, Togo’s second largest town. Bassar serves as an important centre for commercial trade. It has road links with Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) to the north and the national
- Bassari (people)
Senegal: Ethnic groups: …often wealthy landowners; and the Basari, an ancient people who are found in the rocky highlands of Fouta Djallon.
- Bassari (Togo)
Bassar, town, north-central Togo. The town lies in a major cotton growing area about 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Sokodé, Togo’s second largest town. Bassar serves as an important centre for commercial trade. It has road links with Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) to the north and the national
- Bassaricyon (mammal)
olingo, (genus Bassaricyon), any of six species of small arboreal carnivores of the raccoon family, Procyonidae, found in the jungles of Central and northern South America. Olingos are slender, grayish brown animals 35–50 cm (14–20 inches) long, excluding the bushy, faintly ringed tail, which
- Bassaricyon neblina (mammal)
olingo: The olinguito (Bassaricyon neblina), first described in 2013, can be distinguished from other olingos by its habitat and appearance. Olinguitos are residents of the cloud forests of Colombia and Ecuador and make their homes at altitudes between 1,530 and 2,740 metres (approximately 5,000 and 9,000 feet),…
- Bassariscus (mammal)
cacomistle, (Bassariscus), either of two species of large-eyed, long-tailed carnivores related to the raccoon (family Procyonidae). Cacomistles are grayish brown with lighter underparts and white patches over their eyes. The total length is about 60–100 cm (24–40 inches), about half of which is the
- Bassariscus astutus (mammal)
miner’s cat, carnivorous mammal, a species of cacomistle
- Bassariscus sumichrasti (mammal)
cacomistle: (formerly Jentinkia) sumichrasti ranges in forests from Central America to Peru. Larger, darker-furred, and more arboreal than the ringtail, it has pointed ears and nonretractile claws.
- basse danse (dance)
basse danse, (French: “low dance”), courtly dance for couples, originating in 14th-century Italy and fashionable in many varieties for two centuries. Its name is attributed both to its possible origin as a peasant, or “low,” dance and to its style of small gliding steps in which the feet remain
- Basse Santa Su (The Gambia)
Basse Santa Su, town and port, eastern Gambia, on the south bank of the Gambia River. The town is a branch banking centre; a market centre for peanuts (groundnuts), rice, and cattle among the Fulani, Malinke, and Wolof peoples; and the last port of call for the government steamer from Banjul, 244
- basse-lisse (weaving)
tapestry: Techniques: …haute-lisse in French) or a horizontal loom (low-warp, or basse-lisse). In early high-warp looms the warps were attached to a beam at the top, and groups of warp threads were weighted at the bottom. The weft was beaten up (i.e., pushed) toward the top as the weaving progressed. High-warp looms…
- Basse-Normandie (former region, France)
Basse-Normandie, former région of France. As a région, it encompassed the northwestern départements of Orne, Calvados, and Manche. The northern and western shores of the region are washed by the English Channel. In 2016 the Basse-Normandie région was joined with the région of Haute-Normandie to
- basse-taille (enamelware)
basse-taille, (French: “low-cut”), an enameling technique in which a metal surface, usually gold or silver, is engraved or carved in low relief and then covered with translucent vitreous enamel. This technique dramatizes the play of light and shade over the low-cut design and also gives the object
- Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe)
Basse-Terre, administrative capital of Guadeloupe (an overseas département of France), on the eastern Caribbean island of Basse-Terre. The town, dating from 1643, is situated on the southwestern coast of the island between the sea and the 4,813-foot (1,467-metre) peak of Soufrière and is some 4
- Basse-Terre (island, Guadeloupe)
Basse-Terre, island in the eastern Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. Along with Grande-Terre, its twin to the east, the islands constitute the core of the French overseas département of Guadeloupe. The two islands are separated by a narrow channel called the Salée River. The island is the site
- Bassein (India)
Vasai-Virar, city (municipal corporation), western Maharashtra state, western India. It lies on the Arabian Sea coast north of Mumbai (Bombay). Bassein (Vasai) town was part of the territory of the Hindu Devagiri Yadavas until 1317, and it later became a seaport for the Gujarat Muslim kings. In
- Bassein (Myanmar)
Pathein, city, southern Myanmar (Burma). It lies on the Bassein River, which is the westernmost distributary of the Irrawaddy River and is navigable by ships up to 10,000 tons. The city is a deepwater port and has several rice mills; rice is exported from there. It also has sawmills and machine
- Bassein River (river, Myanmar)
Irrawaddy River: Physiography: …of the delta is the Bassein (Pathein) River, while the easternmost stream is the Yangon River, on the left bank of which stands Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon (Rangoon). Because the Yangon River is only a minor channel, the flow of water is insufficient to prevent Yangon Harbour from silting up,…
- Bassein, Treaty of (United Kingdom-Bājī Rāo II [1802])
Treaty of Bassein, (Dec. 31, 1802), pact between Baji Rao II, the Maratha peshwa of Poona (now Pune) in India, and the British. It was a decisive step in the breakup of the Maratha confederacy. The pact led directly to the East India Company’s annexation of the peshwa’s territories in western India
- Bassermann, Albert (German actor)
Albert Bassermann was a stage and screen actor known as one of the finest German interpreters of Henrik Ibsen. Bassermann began his career in Mannheim in 1887 and during engagements in several cities established himself in character roles from the works of William Shakespeare, Friedrich von
- Bassermann, Ernst (German politician)
Ernst Bassermann was a German politician, leader of the National Liberal Party through the last years of imperial Germany. After achieving financial independence as a legal counsel and through other business interests, Bassermann joined the German National Liberal Party and in 1893 was elected to
- Basses-Alpes (department, France)
Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur: of Alpes-Maritimes, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, and Vaucluse. Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur is bounded by the régions of Occitanie to the west and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the north. Other boundaries include Italy to the east and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
- Basses-Pyrénées (department, France)
Aquitaine: Geography: The Basque coast in Pyrénées-Atlantique experienced a major development of leisure activity, centred on the towns of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and, especially, Biarritz. A number of small winter-sports resorts have been developed in the Pyrenees. In Dordogne many visitors travel to the valley of Vézère, one of the earliest known cradles…
- basset horn (musical instrument)
basset horn, clarinet pitched a fourth lower than the ordinary B♭ clarinet, probably invented in the 1760s by Anton and Michael Mayrhofer of Passau, Bavaria. The name derives from its basset (“small bass”) pitch and its original curved horn shape (later supplanted by an angular form). Its bore is
- Basset Hound (breed of dog)
Basset Hound, breed of dog developed centuries ago in France and long maintained, chiefly in France and Belgium, as a hunting dog of the aristocracy. Originally used to trail hares, rabbits, and deer, it has also been used in hunting birds, foxes, and other game. It is characterized as a slow,
- Basseterre (national capital, Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Basseterre, chief town of St. Kitts (St. Christopher) island and capital of St. Kitts and Nevis, a parliamentary federated state located in the eastern Caribbean. It lies on the island’s southwestern coast, 60 miles (100 km) west of St. John’s, Antigua. Founded in 1627 and rebuilt after being