Difference between revisions of "B"

Revision as of 14:06, 5 November 2006

Bagdad Railway Concession
228; In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Ottoman Empire planned to construct a Baghdad Railway under German control. It became a source of international tension and played some role in the origins of the First World War; 238; Wikipedia entry

Basnight, Lewis ("Lew")
36-51; a "spotter" from White City Investigations; Upstate-Downstate Beast,37; "a keen sympathy for the invisible" 43; "the side of the day" 44; transfer to Denver, 51; 171; Cryptomite trip, 182; emergence out of explosion, 221;

Basnight, Troth
38; Lew's wife, who leaves him;

Battle of Puebla
315; The Battle of Puebla took place on May 5, 1862 near the city of Puebla, Mexico, during the French intervention in Mexico. It was a major Mexican victory, and is commemorated every year as Cinco de Mayo; Wikipedia entry

Bauer, Grünewald
136;

Beaufort Scale
15; a scale to measure wind speed; Wikipedia entry

Beaver Saloon
193;

"Beavers of the Brain"
183; song by the beings inhabiting Lew Basright's steak

Berlin Conference of 1878
226; The Congress of Berlin was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War, 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize conditions in the Balkans. Otto von Bismarck, who led the Congress, undertook to balance the distinct interests of Great Britain, Russia and Austria-Hungary. As a consequence, however, differences between Russia and Austria-Hungary intensified, as did the nationality question in the Balkans; Wikipedia entry

Bible
86; Second Corinthians, 32; 223; St. Mark, 250;

Big Billy's
260;

Billy the Kid
263;

bilocation
143; the ability (said of certain Roman Catholic saints) to exist simultaneously in two locations Wikipedia entry

Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C.
18; aeronautical club from Oregon ("A.C." for alternating current?); a bindelstiff is a hobo, especially one who carries a bedroll.

Black, Miss Penelope ("Penny")
18; distaff member of the Bindlestiffs of the Blue A.C.

Blanca, La
287; "local name" for Bob Meldrum's wife;

Blavatsky, Madame (1831-1891)
219; Helena Petrovna Hahn (also Hélène), better known as Helena Blavatsky (Russian: Елена Блаватская) or Madame Blavatsky, born Helena von Hahn, was a founder of the Theosophical Society; Wikipedia entry

Blitz Instruments
53; Blitz is a manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories

Blope, Dr. Templeton
131; of the University of the Outer Hebrides

Blue Ivory
125;

Blundell, Miles
4; Handyman Apprentice aboard the Inconvenience; 107; nonsense speaking, 110-13; the Book, 251;

Bly, Nellie (1864-1922)
37; Born May 5, 1864, to Judge Michael Cochran and Mary Jane Kennedy Cochran, part of the large Cochran family of Apollo, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Jane Cochrane revolutionized journalism for women. She is better known by her pen name, "Nellie Bly," which she adapted from the Stephen Foster song, "Nelly Bly." Daring and innovative, she gained world fame when she beat Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg's record for traveling around the world in 80 days by more than a week, departing on November 14, 1889 and returning to New York on January 25, 1890; Wikipedia entry

Bobrikoff, General
83; "evil viceroy" of Russian Tsar

Bodine, O. I. C.
517; American stoker on the Stupendica

Boll Weevil Lounge
47;

Bol'shaia Igra
122; Padzhy's ship, at the North Pole; in Venice, 245;

Bonnet, Charles (1720-1793)
307; Swiss naturalist and philosophical writer who first described what became known as the Charles Bonnet syndrome (or CBS for short), a term used to describe the situation when people with sight problems start to see things which they know aren't real. Sometimes called visual hallucinations, the things people see can take all kinds of forms from simple patterns of straight lines to detailed -pictures of people or buildings. These can be enjoyable or sometimes upsetting; Wikipedia entry

Bosanquet, Bernard James Tindal (1877-1936)
237; "this Middlesex spinner"; an English cricketer, perhaps most renowned as the inventor of the googly (sometimes called the Bosie or, in Australia, the Wrong'un ), born in Bull's Cross, Enfield, Middlesex; Wikipedia entry

Bounce, Roswell
60; photographer

boutonniere
33; A boutonniere, also buttonhole, is a flower or floral decoration pushed or pinned through the button hole of a lapel of a suit.

Boyne
231;

Briggs, Estrella (Stray)
200; in Nochecita; 920-921;

Bruno
101; Scarsdale Vibe's bodyguard

buck-and-wing artist
303; "buck-and-wing" is a solo tap dance emphasizing sharp taps

Buffalo Bill
See Cody, Buffalo Bill

Burchell, Mrs.
228; medium at Stead séance;

Buri
142; "grandfather of Odin and the first gods"

Busted Flush
313; Jimmy Drop's hangout in Telluride