Difference between revisions of "B"

Revision as of 10:52, 12 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

Baku
441;

Bakunin
373;

432; From the Bible, Numbers Chapter 22, wherein Balaam, a seer and Gentile, is sent by Balak, King of Moab, to confront the Israelites who, after 40 years in the desert, were camped on the plains of Moab. An angel, invisible to Balaam but visible to the ass, blocks the road and the ass won't proceed. Balaam repeatedly whips the ass until, by divine intervention, the ass is given the power of speech and speaks to Balaam, asking him why he treats him so badly. Balaam is taken aback and then sees the angel with sword drawn and falls to the ground, contrite. But the angel, instead of stopping him from his journey, instead tells Balaam to proceed on his mission. When Balaam reaches the top of a hill and sees the Israelites camped out below, a blessing unexpectedly issues from his lips. Two things here: 1) it's possible for a non-Hebrew to be a prophet and 2) this is one of only two instances in the Bible where animals speak, the other being the serpent in the Garden of Eden. More from the Trivia Library

Balkin komitadji
557; Komitadji, Comitadji or Komitaji (Turkish: Komitacı, "a rebel, member of a secret revolutionary society") is a member of a guerrilla band in Macedonia or the Balkan countries.

Ball in Hand
405; saloon where Dr. Zoot met Meatman; on West Symmes Street, 410;

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; 496;

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

Belgian nihilists
527; "Eug&eacutenie, Fatou, Denis, and Policarpe, styling themselves 'Young Congo'"

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; "Let there be light" 354; Judas Iscariot, 377; 413; Balaam's ass, 432; Sodom and Gomorrah, 441; 441; 452; Jonah and Agadir, 521; Judas Priest, 525; Lot's wife, 550;

Big Billy's
260;

Billy the Kid, painting by Jacques Moitoret

263; Henry McCarty, better known as Billy the Kid, but also known by the aliases Henry Antrim and William Harrison Bonney, was a 19th century American frontier outlaw and gunmen who was a participant in the Lincoln County War. Wikipedia entry

bilocation
143; the ability (said of certain Roman Catholic saints) to exist simultaneously in two locations; Estrella, double of Stray Briggs, 393; "enough to divide a fellow into two" 464; 521-522; Stupendica, 514; Dally, 524; 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.

Bing, Liu
345; "tong warrior's girlfriend"

Biometric Institute of Neuropathy
433;

Black Gang
517; the stokers; 519;

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

Bloggins
446;

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; 417; "temporarily lapsing into English" 427; recognizes the Trespassers, Mr. Ace, 417; "extra-temporal excursions" 443; and Pugnax, 550; "prefiguration of the Holy City" 551;

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. (Officer in Charge)
517; American stoker aboard the Stupendica; 519;

Bohr, Niels (Henrik David) (1885-1962)
412; Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. Bohr is widely considered one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century. Wikipedia entry

Boilster, Eugene
477; sheriff of Wall o' Death;

Boilster, Tace
479; Eugene's wife;

Boilster, Roy Mickey
480; Tace's brother;

Boilster, Chloe
485; Eugene's & Tace's daughter

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

Borrasca
364; Reef's colt;

Borowicz, Professor Bogoslaw
343; at McVeety's Theater "Floor Shows"

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

Bosch
554; the artist

Boulanger, General Georges Ernest Jean-Marie (April 29, 1837 – September 30, 1891)
543; anniversary of his suicide and the Chums of Chance; Boulanger was a French general and reactionary politician. Very popular with the military, He rose through the ranks to general, and began his own political movement, an ecclectic one that capitalized on the frustrations of French conservatism, advocating the three principles of Revanche (Revenge on Germany), Révision (Revision of the Constitution), Restauration (the return to monarchy). The common reference to it has become Boulangisme, a term used by its partisans and adversaries alike. A failed coup began his downfall. He was charged with conspiracy and treason and a warrant for his death was issued. He committed suicide by a bullet to the head on the grave of his mistress. Wikipedia entry

Bounce, Roswell
60; photographer; Hypop Apparatus, 425; Scarsdale Vibe trial in Cleveland, 455; Hercules, 455;

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;

Breedlove, "Dope"
369; "and his Merry Coons" - houseband at Maman Tant Gras Hall in New Orleans;

Breguet
457; the tourbillion

Briggs, Estrella (Stray)
200; in Nochecita; Aunt Adelina; at a "small ranch outside Fickle Creek" 462; 920-921;

Briggs, Willow
361; Stray's sister; husband Holt, 367;

Brueghel
554;

Brugere's power
529; Brugere's powder uses picric acid which, when ignited, burns quietly with a smoky flame and is very difficult to detonate by percussion; its salts, however, are more readily detonated. Part of the picric family, Brugere's powder is a mixture of 54 parts of ammonium picrate and 45 parts of saltpetre; Designolle's powder, composed of potassium picrate, saltpetre and charcoal is also a member of this family of explosives. More on picric acid

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;

Burgess
a sheriff Reef argues with; Laureen, his wife;

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

Busted Flush
313; Jimmy Drop's hangout in Telluride

Byng, Admiral
545;

Byron's Pool
490; where Yashmeen bathed nude;