Jamhuri Day, one of the most important national holidays in Kenya, observed on December 12. The holiday formally marks the date of the country’s admittance in 1964 into the Commonwealth as a republic and takes its name from the Swahili word jamhuri (“republic”); December 12 is also the date when

Libertyville, village, Lake county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. Lying on the Des Plaines River, it is a suburb of Chicago, located 35 miles (55 km) north of downtown. It was first settled about 1834 and known as Vardin’s Grove, for the first settler. In 1836 the land was officially opened for

Liberty Bell: …the new State House (renamed Independence Hall) in Philadelphia. It was cast in London by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, purchased for about £100, and delivered in August 1752. It was cracked by a stroke of the clapper while being tested and was twice recast in Philadelphia before being hung in…

Malden Island, coral atoll in the Central and Southern Line Islands, part of Kiribati, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is situated 1,700 miles (2,700 km) south of Hawaii. A level formation with a land area of 11 square miles (28 square km) and a large lagoon, it has temple platforms and graves that

March First Movement, series of demonstrations for Korean national independence from Japan that began on March 1, 1919, in the Korean capital city of Seoul and soon spread throughout the country. Before the Japanese finally suppressed the movement 12 months later, approximately 2,000,000 Koreans

Independence National Historical Park, area of downtown Philadelphia, partially owned by the city but operated by the U.S. National Park Service. It covers 45 acres (18 hectares) and contains a number of historic structures associated with the American Revolution and the founding of the

Viet Minh, organization that led the struggle for Vietnamese independence from French rule. The Viet Minh was formed in China in May 1941 by Ho Chi Minh. Although led primarily by communists, the Viet Minh operated as a national front organization open to persons of various political persuasions.

Iceland: Political process: Since the late 1970s the Independence Party (1929), centre to conservative in political outlook, has commanded about one-third to two-fifths of the popular vote, and it frequently formed coalition governments. The Progressive Party (1916), which generally has been the second leading party during this period, draws its strength from rural…

Nouakchott: …focuses on a square, the Place de l’Indépendence, and includes an airport and industrial area. It is centrally located on the main north-south highway, connecting the more populated agricultural south with the sparsely populated but mineral-rich north. A port facility has been built about 5 miles (8 km) west for…

probability theory: Independence: One of the most important concepts in probability theory is that of “independence.” The events A and B are said to be (stochastically) independent if P(B|A) = P(B), or equivalently if

Peninsular War, (1808–14), that part of the Napoleonic Wars fought in the Iberian Peninsula, where the French were opposed by British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces. Napoleon’s peninsula struggle contributed considerably to his eventual downfall; but until 1813 the conflict in Spain and Portugal,

The American Revolution was an insurrection carried out by 13 of Great Britain’s North American colonies that began in 1775 and ended with a peace treaty in 1783. The colonies won political independence and went on to form the United States of America. The war followed more than a decade of growing

history of Latin America: The wars of independence, 1808–26: The final victory of Latin American patriots over Spain and the fading loyalist factions began in 1808 with the political crisis in Spain. With the Spanish king and his son Ferdinand taken hostage by Napoleon, Creoles and peninsulars began to jockey…

Scotland: The Wars of Independence: With the deaths of Alexander III in 1286 and his young granddaughter Margaret, the “Maid of Norway,” four years later, almost two centuries of relatively amicable Anglo-Scottish relations came to an end. A complete uncertainty as to the…

Peninsular War, (1808–14), that part of the Napoleonic Wars fought in the Iberian Peninsula, where the French were opposed by British, Spanish, and Portuguese forces. Napoleon’s peninsula struggle contributed considerably to his eventual downfall; but until 1813 the conflict in Spain and Portugal,

heredity: Discovery and rediscovery of Mendel’s laws: …derived his second law: the law of recombination, or independent assortment of genes.

heredity: Discovery and rediscovery of Mendel’s laws: …derived his second law: the law of recombination, or independent assortment of genes.

British Broadcasting Corporation: …commercial channel operated by the Independent Television Authority (later the Office of Communications [Ofcom]) in 1955. A second commercial channel commenced broadcasting in 1982. The BBC’s radio monopoly ended with the government’s decision to permit, starting in the early 1970s, local commercial broadcasts.

Bulgaria: Labour and taxation: …reconstituted in 1989 as the Confederation of Independent Bulgarian Trade Unions (S’uz na Nezavisemite B’lgarski Profs’uze).

marketing: Off-price retailers: …off-price retailers are factory outlets, independent carriers, and warehouse clubs. Stocking manufacturers’ surplus, discontinued, or irregular products, factory outlets are owned and operated by the manufacturer. Independent off-price retailers carry a rapidly changing collection of higher-quality merchandise and are typically owned and operated by entrepreneurs or divisions of larger retail…

Undenominational Fellowship of Christian Churches and Churches of Christ, autonomous Protestant churches in the United States that were formerly associated primarily with the Disciples of Christ. These churches refused to become part of the restructured Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in

East Greenwich: The Independent Company of Kentish Guards, a volunteer militia that is still active, was formed in 1774 in East Greenwich under General James Mitchell Varnum, whose house (1773) is restored with period furnishings; the Kentish Guards Armory and headquarters, built in 1843 in Greek Revival temple…

independent counsel, Official appointed by the court at the request of the U.S. attorney general to investigate and prosecute criminal violations by high government officials, members of Congress, or directors of a presidential election campaign after an investigation by the attorney general finds

independent counsel, Official appointed by the court at the request of the U.S. attorney general to investigate and prosecute criminal violations by high government officials, members of Congress, or directors of a presidential election campaign after an investigation by the attorney general finds

Chile: The second presidency of Michelle Bachelet (2014–18): …campaign contributions to the opposition Independent Democratic Union party that had surfaced in late 2014 exploded in early 2015, and at about the same time there were allegations that President Bachelet’s son had used political influence to obtain a $10 million loan for his wife, Natalia Compagnon. In late January…

Kenya: 2017 elections, annulment of presidential election results, and fresh election: …members protested regularly against Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), claiming it was corrupt and biased in favour of Kenyatta’s Jubilee Coalition, and called for the IEBC commissioners to be replaced before the 2017 election. An agreement between the opposition and the government regarding the departure of the commissioners…

institutional review board (IRB), in the United States, ethics committee that reviews proposed and ongoing research involving human subjects. The institutional review board (IRB) exists to protect the rights and safety of human subjects who participate in research studies. The need for an IRB

statistics: Events and their probabilities: If two events are independent, the occurrence of one event does not affect the probability of the other event taking place. When two or more events are independent, the probability of their joint occurrence is the product of their individual probabilities. Two events are said to be mutually exclusive…

film: Films of art and the art cinema: For want of a better term, interpretation may be used to describe the type of motion picture in which a play, a ballet, an opera, or some other work of another art form is kept virtually intact and…

Independent Fundamental Churches of America, fellowship of conservative, independent Christian churches stressing biblical truth. It was organized in Cicero, Illinois, U.S., in June 1930 as the successor to the American Conference of Undenominational Churches. Member churches are forbidden to

Western painting: Pop art in Britain and the United States: the 1960s: The Independent Group, as they called themselves, were committed to developing a broad-based understanding of culture from its supposedly “high” forms to its popular ones. This philosophy informed the cerebral works of their main artist member, Richard Hamilton. Hence, in a work such as $he (1958–61),…

James Maxton: …to gain support for the Independent Labour Party (ILP). After a year’s imprisonment in 1916 for a strong antiwar speech, Maxton became a paid organizer for the ILP and in 1922 was elected to Parliament as a representative of the Bridgeton division of Glasgow, a position he held until his…

Vietnamese literature: …their lasting effect, were the Tu Luc Van Doan (“Independent Literary Group”), led by Khai Hung and Nhat Linh, and the Tho Moi (“New Poetry”) school, which included important writers such as Xuan Dieu, Che Lan Vien, Cu Huy Can, Bang Ba Lan, and Luu Trong Lu. Both groups succeeded…

Tony O’Reilly: …publishing through his chairmanship of Independent News and Media (INM), parent company of many newspapers in Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. He was also chairman of Waterford Wedgwood, a manufacturer of glass and china. O’Reilly’s investments in that company, however, soon contributed to growing financial difficulties.…

Maggie Lena Draper Walker: …executive secretary-treasurer of the renamed Independent Order of St. Luke in 1899. At the time she took office, the order had some 3,400 members in 57 local chapters and was in debt.

Knud Kristensen: …1953 he formed the small Independent Party, which advocated a return of southern Schleswig to Denmark and a repeal of most social welfare legislation.

Halldór Laxness: …fishing village; Sjálfstætt fólk (1934–35; Independent People), the story of an impoverished farmer and his struggle to retain his economic independence; and Heimsljós (1937–40; World Light), a four-volume novel about the struggles of a peasant poet. These novels criticized Icelandic society from a socialist viewpoint, and they attracted a great…

From 1946 to 1958 the American music business was turned upside down by a group of mavericks who knew little about music but were fast learners about business. What they discovered was an expanding “market” of clubs and bars in each of which stood a jukebox that needed stocking with an

France: France after de Gaulle: …of a business party, the Independent Republicans (Républicains Indépendants). Giscard won over Chaban-Delmas in the first round and narrowly defeated Mitterrand in the runoff.

public school, in the United Kingdom, one of a relatively small group of institutions educating secondary-level students for a fee and independent of the state system as regards both endowment and administration. The term public school emerged in the 18th century when the reputation of certain

Solidarity, Polish trade union that in the early 1980s became the first independent labour union in a country belonging to the Soviet bloc. Solidarity was founded in September 1980, was forcibly suppressed by the Polish government in December 1981, and reemerged in 1989 to become the first

Hungary: Political process: …Forum, Alliance of Free Democrats, Independent Smallholders’ Party, Christian Democratic People’s Party, Federation of Young Democrats (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége; Fidesz), and Hungarian Socialist Party—the latter being the party of reformed ex-communists. The same six parties were returned to Parliament in 1994, and for the following decade most of them remained…

Social Democratic Party of Germany: History: …of the vote (while the Independent Social Democrats received another 7.6 percent), but the party’s failure to win favourable terms from the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 (terms embodied in the Treaty of Versailles) and the country’s severe economic problems led to a drop in support. Nevertheless,…

special district: Independent special districts have their own separate boards of directors elected by the district’s voters for fixed terms. Governing boards vary in membership with the size and nature of the district. Dependent special districts, on the other hand, are governed by the elected bodies of…

Papua New Guinea, island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It encompasses the eastern half of New Guinea, the world’s second largest island (the western half is made up of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua); the Bismarck Archipelago (New Britain, New Ireland, the Admiralty

Samoa, country in the central South Pacific Ocean, among the westernmost of the island countries of Polynesia. According to legend, Samoa is known as the “Cradle of Polynesia” because Savai‘i island is said to be Hawaiki, the Polynesian homeland. Samoan culture is undoubtedly central to Polynesian

ITV, in the United Kingdom, television network consisting of a consortium of private companies in competition with the British Broadcasting Corporation. It is regulated by the Office of Communications. The ITV network was authorized by an act of Parliament in 1954, when the BBC’s monopoly over

British Broadcasting Corporation: …commercial channel operated by the Independent Television Authority (later the Office of Communications [Ofcom]) in 1955. A second commercial channel commenced broadcasting in 1982. The BBC’s radio monopoly ended with the government’s decision to permit, starting in the early 1970s, local commercial broadcasts.

English literature: The Victorian theater: Grein founded the Independent Theatre in 1891 to foster such work and staged there the first plays of George Bernard Shaw and translations of Ibsen.

English literature: The Victorian theater: Grein founded the Independent Theatre in 1891 to foster such work and staged there the first plays of George Bernard Shaw and translations of Ibsen.

Locofoco Party: …passed (July 4, 1840) the Independent Treasury Act, which fulfilled the primary Locofoco aim: complete separation of government from banking. After 1840 Locofoco political influence was largely confined to New York, and by the end of the decade many Locofocos were allied with the Barnburner Democrats, who eventually left the…

mathematics: Differential equations: Once the number of independent variables was specified (which fixed the dimension of the system), a large class of examples, including many of considerable geometric significance, seemed to fall into a small number of patterns. This suggested that the systems could be classified, and such a prospect naturally excited…

The Independent, politically independent daily newspaper founded in 1986 and published in London. The founders of The Independent—Andreas Whittam Smith, Matthew Symonds, and Stephen Glover (all former staff members of The Daily Telegraph)—believed that many of Britain’s educated and affluent

nuclear model: …of the first group, called independent-particle models, the main assumption is that little or no interaction occurs between the individual particles that constitute nuclei; each proton and neutron moves in its own orbit and behaves as if the other nuclear particles were passive participants. The shell nuclear model (q.v.) and…

automobile: Axles: Articulated rear axles offer individual wheel suspension at the rear as well as the front. Individual rear suspension not only eliminates the heavy rear axle housing but also permits lowered bodies with no floor humps, because the transmission and differential gears can be combined in a housing mounted on…

Separatist, any of the English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who wished to separate from the perceived corruption of the Church of England and form independent local churches. Separatists were most influential politically in England during the time of the Commonwealth (1649–60) under

Austria: Political process: The populist Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs; FPÖ), sometimes referred to as the Liberal Party, was founded in 1955 as a successor to the League of Independents. Initially drawing the bulk of its support from former National Socialists, the party’s fiercely right-wing views had been…

Les Indes galantes, opéra-ballet composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau that premiered in Paris on August 23, 1735. Active in France during the Baroque era, Rameau composed both for the entertainment of King Louis XV and for the public. Les Indes galantes was written for public entertainment, integrating

West Indies, crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north. From the peninsula of Florida on the mainland of the United States, the islands stretch

French East India Company, any of the French trading companies established in the 17th and 18th centuries to oversee French commerce with India, eastern Africa, and other territories of the Indian Ocean and the East Indies. The Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales was established by

French East India Company, any of the French trading companies established in the 17th and 18th centuries to oversee French commerce with India, eastern Africa, and other territories of the Indian Ocean and the East Indies. The Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales was established by

French East India Company, any of the French trading companies established in the 17th and 18th centuries to oversee French commerce with India, eastern Africa, and other territories of the Indian Ocean and the East Indies. The Compagnie Française des Indes Orientales was established by

indeterminacy, in literature, the multiplicity of possible interpretations of given textual elements. The term was given its literary meaning by deconstruction theorists. Indeterminacy is similar to ambiguity as described by the New Critics, but it is applied by its practitioners not only to

uncertainty principle, statement, articulated (1927) by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, that the position and the velocity of an object cannot both be measured exactly, at the same time, even in theory. The very concepts of exact position and exact velocity together, in fact, have no

Speusippus: …called “the One” and “the indeterminate dyad,” terms meant to explain the presence of both unity and multiplicity in the universe. His colleagues, however, viewed “the One” and “the dyad” as principles of good and evil, respectively, but Speusippus denied the attachment of moral qualities. Using numerical labels, he also…

mammal: Skin and hair: Continuous growth of hair (indeterminate), as seen on the heads of humans, is rare among mammals. Hairs with determinate growth are subject to wear and must be replaced periodically—a process termed molt. The first coat of a young mammal is referred to as the juvenal pelage, which typically is…

inflorescence: Indeterminate inflorescence.: In indeterminate inflorescences, the youngest flowers are at the top of an elongated axis or on the centre of a truncated axis. An indeterminate inflorescence may be a raceme, panicle, spike, catkin, corymb, umbel, spadix, or head.

indeterminate sentence, in law, term of imprisonment with no definite duration within a prescribed maximum. Eligibility for parole is determined by the parole authority. In this respect, an indeterminate sentence differs from a definite one in that statutes prescribing the latter usually provide

aleatory music, (aleatory from Latin alea, “dice”), 20th-century music in which chance or indeterminate elements are left for the performer to realize. The term is a loose one, describing compositions with strictly demarcated areas for improvisation according to specific directions and also

determinism: …extreme alternative to determinism is indeterminism, the view that at least some events have no deterministic cause but occur randomly, or by chance. Indeterminism is supported to some extent by research in quantum mechanics, which suggests that some events at the quantum level are in principle unpredictable (and therefore random).…

indexation, in fiscal policy, a means of offsetting the effect of inflation or deflation on social security payments and taxes by measuring the “real value” of money from a fixed point of reference, usually a price index. Without indexing, recipients of social security benefits, for example, would

stochastic process: …a family of random variables indexed against some other variable or set of variables. It is one of the most general objects of study in probability. Some basic types of stochastic processes include Markov processes, Poisson processes (such as radioactive decay), and time series, with the index variable referring to…

William Frederick Poole: …bibliographer and library administrator whose indexing of periodicals became authoritative.

Index Librorum Prohibitorum, list of books once forbidden by Roman Catholic Church authority as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historical document. Compiled by official censors, the Index was an

semiotics: …for falling rocks); (2) an index, which is associated with its referent (as smoke is a sign of fire); and (3) a symbol, which is related to its referent only by convention (as with words or traffic signals). Peirce also demonstrated that a sign can never have a definite meaning,…

Encyclopædia Britannica: Fifteenth edition: …of hundreds of articles; the index function was taken from the Micropædia and placed in a separate two-volume Index; and both the Micropædia and the Propædia were redesigned, reorganized, and revised. The entire set consisted of 32 volumes. Printings of the 15th edition continued into the 21st century, though at…

Index Librorum Prohibitorum, list of books once forbidden by Roman Catholic Church authority as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historical document. Compiled by official censors, the Index was an

John Bale: Bateson as Index Britanniae Scriptorum Quos Collegit J. Baleus (“Index of Britain’s Writers Collected by J. Bale”). Though not always accurate, this early literary history is invaluable to students of the medieval and early Tudor periods.

index case, in public health, the first case of a disease or other condition that is noticed by health authorities. Index cases may be reported in relation to infectious disease outbreaks or to occurrences of noninfectious diseases or health conditions. They may also be reported within a region or

John Shaw Billings: …the first edition of the Index Catalogue, 16 vol. (1880–95). The first of their kind, both indexes long remained predominant medical references, and the Index Medicus is still regarded as one of the primary medical bibliographies in the United States.

nebula: The work of the Herschels: …it was supplemented by two Index Catalogues (IC) of 5,386 additional objects. The list still included galaxies as well as true nebulae, for they were often at this time still indistinguishable. Most of the brighter galaxies are still identified by their NGC or IC numbers according to their listing in…

index fossil, any animal or plant preserved in the rock record of the Earth that is characteristic of a particular span of geologic time or environment. A useful index fossil must be distinctive or easily recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographic distribution and a short range through

Kew Gardens: The Index Kewensis, which is edited at Kew, maintains a record of all described higher plant species of the world from the time of Linnaeus.

Index Librorum Prohibitorum, list of books once forbidden by Roman Catholic Church authority as dangerous to the faith or morals of Roman Catholics. Publication of the list ceased in 1966, and it was relegated to the status of a historical document. Compiled by official censors, the Index was an

John Shaw Billings: …in his founding of the Index Medicus (1879), a monthly guide to current medical literature, and publication of the first edition of the Index Catalogue, 16 vol. (1880–95). The first of their kind, both indexes long remained predominant medical references, and the Index Medicus is still regarded as one of…

William F. Friedman and Elizebeth S. Friedman: William Friedman wrote The Index of Coincidence and Its Applications in Cryptography (1922), one of the standard works in the nomenclature and classification of ciphers. Together, the Friedmans wrote The Shakespearean Ciphers Examined (1957), in which they denied Francis Bacon’s purported authorship of the William Shakespeare plays and…

refractive index, measure of the bending of a ray of light when passing from one medium into another. If i is the angle of incidence of a ray in vacuum (angle between the incoming ray and the perpendicular to the surface of a medium, called the normal) and r is the angle of refraction (angle

indexation, in fiscal policy, a means of offsetting the effect of inflation or deflation on social security payments and taxes by measuring the “real value” of money from a fixed point of reference, usually a price index. Without indexing, recipients of social security benefits, for example, would

William Frederick Poole: …bibliographer and library administrator whose indexing of periodicals became authoritative.

plant disease: Control: …plants as a result of indexing and certification programs. Indexing is a procedure to determine the presence or absence of viruses not readily transmitted mechanically. Material from a “test” plant is grafted to an “indicator” plant that develops characteristic symptoms if affected by the viral disease in question. In addition,…

India, country that occupies the greater part of South Asia. It is made up of 28 states and eight union territories, and its national capital is New Delhi, built in the 20th century just south of the historic hub of Old Delhi to serve as India’s administrative center. Its government is a

Government of India Acts: Pitt’s India Act (1784), named for the British prime minister William Pitt the Younger, established the dual system of control by the British government and the East India Company, by which the company retained control of commerce and day-to-day administration but important political matters were reserved…

India: The company and the state: …transfer the control of British India to seven commissioners was defeated by the influence of King George III in the House of Lords, but the next year the matter was settled for more than 70 years by Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger’s India Act of 1784. Its essence was…

India Gate, monumental sandstone arch in New Delhi, dedicated to the troops of British India who died in wars fought between 1914 and 1919. India Gate, which is located at the eastern end of the Rajpath (formerly called the Kingsway), is about 138 feet (42 metres) in height. India Gate is one of

India ink, black pigment in the form of sticks that are moistened before use in drawing and lettering, or the fluid ink consisting of this pigment finely suspended in a liquid medium, such as water, and a glutinous binder. The sticks or cakes consist of specially prepared lampblack, or carbon

narra: …especially to Pterocarpus indicus, or India padauk, noted for the ability of its wood to take a high polish.

India pale ale (IPA), type of beer that features strong flavours from hops and typically has more fruity notes than other types of beer. Brewed industrially or on a small scale, India pale ales (IPAs) differ from standard pale ales in that they generally have a higher amount of alcohol by volume

India rubber plant, (Ficus elastica), large tree of the family Moraceae, once an important source of an inferior natural rubber. It was largely replaced as a source of rubber by the unrelated rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in the early 20th century. The India rubber plant is native to Southeast

India rubber plant, (Ficus elastica), large tree of the family Moraceae, once an important source of an inferior natural rubber. It was largely replaced as a source of rubber by the unrelated rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) in the early 20th century. The India rubber plant is native to Southeast

Delphine Seyrig: …femme fatale in Marguerite Duras’s India Song and the title character in Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles—she usually worked with women directors. Despite her many films, Seyrig considered herself to be primarily a stage actress. She performed in both classic and contemporary plays, often with…