In the Penal Code, dacoity is defined as organised banditry by five or more persons. The word derives from the Hindustani word for a robber, dakait.
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Dak was the east Indian postal service. Properly a dak was a relay of men carrying letters, despatches and the like.
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A dam is a structure constructed to hold back water and provide controlled flow for irrigation, storage and generation of electricity.
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The Dark Ages were the five or six centuries following the fall of the west Roman Empire, after the civilisation of Rome, based on unity and inter- communication had been destroyed by repeated barbarian invasions.
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The Dartmoor Massacre was a massacre of a number of American sailors captured during the American War of Independence and confined in Dartmoor Prison, in Devon, England. It occurred on April the 6th, 1815. In the prison were 6000 Americans and 10000 Frenchmen. The former becoming impatient for their liberty, since the war was then long ended, attempted to escape. They were set upon by the guards and a number of them were killed. An investigation of the matter was made and the British Government offered ample satisfaction.
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The notation of dates varies around the world. In the United Kingdom, dates are written as dd/mm/yyyy or as dd/mm/yy so that the date June the 7th 2004 may be notated as 7/6/2004 or as 07/06/2004 or even 7/6/04. In the USA, dates are notated as mm/dd/yyyy so that the same date, June the 7th 2004 is notated as 06/07/2004. This can often lead to confusion between American and British people when reading dates unless the notation is obvious by the day being larger than 12, such as in the date 30th June 2004 which may be notated as 30/06/2004 or 06/30/2004 and the appropriate system of notation easily deduced as there are only 12 months in the year.
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Deckle edge is the name given to the irregular, untrimmed edge found on handmade paper. It is artificially produced on machine-made paper so as to provide a decorative edge to fine books and stationery.
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The Declaration of Independence was made in 1776 by the 13 English colonies in North America breaking away from all allegiance to the British Crown. The Declaration was mainly the work of Thomas Jefferson. Already in December 1775 the Congress had declared itself independent of the English parliament and by this declaration had repudiated allegiance to the Crown.
The Declaration of Paris in 1856 adopted with the Treaty of Paris to establish four principles of international law:
- 1) Privateering to be abolished;
- 2) the neutral flag might cover enemy goods except contraband of war;
- 3) neutral goods, except contraband of war, not to be subject to capture under an enemy's flag;
- 4) blockades, to be binding, must be effective, i.e. maintained by a sufficient force.
The treaty was accepted by nearly all civilized nations, except the United States. The United States refused to agree to the abolition of privateering, and this cost them heavily in the American Civil War.
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In 1765, the Stamp Act Congress of America published a 'Declaration of Rights and Grievances of the Colonists of America', in which they protested against the Stamp Act and all efforts to tax them in a Parliament in which they could not be represented, and claimed for themselves all the rights of British subjects. A similar declaration of rights was issued by the Continental Congress of 1774, adapted to meet also the aggressive acts which had more recently been passed by Parliament. Another such was included in the Declaration of Independence.
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The Declaratory Act was an act passed by Parliament on March the 7th, 1766, vindicating the previous enactments affecting the colonies, and declaring that the king, with the advice of Parliament, had full power to make laws binding America in any cases whatsoever. This law accompanied the repeal of the Stamp Act.
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Decoration day is an American festival, observed upon May the 30th and is set aside for decorating the graves of those that fell in the American Civil War.
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Strictly speaking, a decoy is either a tame or artificial duck, so placed as to lure wild ducks within gunshot range. The term is widely applied to any means by which a person or animal is lured into a trap.
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A deed poll is a deed having a straight edge at the top, as opposed to an indenture. A deed poll was used when only one party was involved in an action, e.g. when a person declared that he wished to be known by a different name. Deeds commonly now have straight edges and are used for all purposes.
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In law, defamation is a false statement tending to expose another person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or to injure him in his trade or profession. Mere insult is not sufficient.
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The Defence of the Realm Acts (DORA) were a series of Acts passed during and after the Great War in Britain conferring on the King in Council the power to take extra-ordinary measures for the defence of the realm. Perhaps the most unpopular Act was the limitation of the times during which intoxicants could be sold, commonly known as the licensing hours and not relaxed until the 1990s.
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Deimos is one of the two moons of Mars.
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Delage were a make of successful French cars, including Grand Prix cars made between 1905 and 1953. In 1908 Delage driving his own make of car won the 500 km Dieppe Grand Prix clocking an average speed of 50 mph, and in 1911 the X type designed by Michelat won the Coupe de l'Auto at Boulogne.
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Delta is the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet.
In geography, a delta is an alluvial triangular deposit formed at diverging mouths of a river, the original delta is the island formed at the mouths of the Nile and so named by the Greeks from its resemblance to their letter delta (a triangle).
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Deltiology is the hobby of collecting postcards.
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Historically the Democratic Party was the most important of the American political parties, having been in continuous existence since the end of the 18th century. The rise of such a party, as soon as national politics began under the new Constitution, was natural. The love of individual liberty rather than strong government, was native in the minds of most Americans. Those who felt this most strongly would be likely to look with apprehension upon the Federal Government, and the possibility of its encroaching upon the States under cover of the new Federal Constitution. They were therefore likely to be advocates of strict construction of the Constitution and of States' rights. To these elements of party feeling, which had drawn the Anti-Federalists together in 1788, was added a few years later the strong sympathy of many Americans with the French Revolution, and the desire that Government should aid France in her contest with England.
Thomas Jefferson put himself at the head of the party drawn together by agreement in these sentiments, and led them in opposition to the Federalists. The party took the name of Democratic-Republican. Before Monroe's administration its members were more commonly called Republicans, since then most commonly Democrats. From the first the party was strongest in the Southern States. From its origin in 1792 to 1801, it was in opposition. In 1798 and 1799, upon the passage of the Alien and Sedition laws, it took strong ground for States' rights in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The election of Jefferson. in 1801 brought it into power. The chief tenets of the party were, belief in freedom of religion, of politics, of speech and of the press, in popular rule, in peace, in economical government, in the utmost possible restriction of the sphere of government, in hospitality to immigrants, and in the avoidance of foreign complications.
Placed in control of the government, the majority of the party drifted away from its strict constructionist ground, and supported measures of a nationalizing character. After the War of 1812, the Federalist party went out of existence, and the Democratic party had complete possession of the field. In 1820, Monroe was re-elected without opposition. But opposing tendencies in the nation and in the party were already showing themselves, and preparing the way for a new party division, between the Whigs, advocates of protection and other nationalizing measures, and those Democrats who held to the old programme of States' rights and free trade and restricted government. With the accession of Jackson in 1829, new social strata came into power in the Democratic party, the widening of the suffrage giving it a more popular character. Managed by skilful politicians, not without the aid of the spoils system, the party won every Presidential election but two (1840, 1848) from this time to 1860, destroyed the US bank, annexed Texas, and carried the country through the war with Mexico. But meanwhile the slavery question, coming into increasing prominence, was gradually forcing a division between the Democrats of the South and the great body of those in the North, who were unwilling to go so far in the protection of slavery by national authority as was desired by their Southern allies. The final split came in the nominating convention of 1860.
Two candidates were nominated, Abraham Lincoln and the Republicans won the election, and the American Civil War broke out. Though many War Democrats aided the administration in preserving the Union, the party was discredited in the eyes of many by its previous connection with the Southern leaders and the pro-slavery cause, and won no Presidential election until that of 1884, when in the minds of many the war issues were extinct and economic questions had taken their place. Defeated in 1888, it was again successful in 1892. By the end of the 19th century the party was hardly more strict-constructionist than the Republican, nor more marked by devotion to States' rights and the party was mostly noted as the opponent of a high tariff.
By the end of the 20th century the differences between the Democratic party and Republicans had become blurred, though the Democratic party was generally perceived - not always accurately - as more left-wing or liberal than the Republicans.
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Demy is a size of paper between royal and crown. It is 22.5 inches by 17.5 inches.
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In old English law, deodand was a term denoting any chattel which had caused the death of a person, accidentally or otherwise, such as falling from a ladder, being tossed by a bull, falling from a horse etc. The item was sold and the proceeds taken by the church and the money supposedly paid for masses to prevent the deceased's sole from purgatory. The practice of deodand was abolished in England in 1846.
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A deunx was a Roman measure of 11/12 parts of one libra (roughly equal to eleven ounces).
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A deuterogamist is someone who marries for a second time.
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Developing countries are countries that often have abundant natural resources but lack the capital and entrepreneurial and technical skills required to develop them. The average income per head and the standard of living in these countries is therefore far below that of the industrial nations. Often known as the third world, these countries are being supported by various United Nations organisations as well as by western and eastern bloc nations, both of whom wish to influence their political development. The developing countries, in which some 70% of the world's population lives, are characterised by poverty, poor diet, the prevalence of disease, high fertility, overpopulation, illiteracy, poor educational facilities, and an agricultural economy. Many depend on a single product for their exports and are therefore vulnerable in world markets. The third world consists of most of Africa (except the Republic of South Africa), most of Asia (except Japan and the USSR), and much of South America.
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A dewanny is a court in the East Indies for trying revenue and other civil disorders.
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Dexter's Laboratory is a children's animated cartoon television show created by Genndy Tartakovsky and commissioned by Turner Entertainment and Hanna-Barbera, about a little boy - Dexter - who creates bizarre inventions in his laboratory that usually work too well, and his annoying, brain-dead elder sister who usually manages to cause the invention to run amok.
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Diabolism is the worship of the devil.
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A diacritical mark is an accent, umlaut, cedilla, etc., set above or below a letter in foreign languages to modify the sound of the letter.
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A diaeresis is two dots, similar to an umlaut, set above the second of two adjacent vowels in a word to show that both are to be pronounced separately.
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Dialogue is a form of literature consisting of a conversation between two or more characters and so having considerable affinities with drama.
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The Diamond necklace scandal occurred in 1785 when a diamond necklace was presented through Madame de Lamotte by Cardinal de Rohan to Marie Antoinette. The cardinal, a profligate churchman, entertained a passion for the queen and the Countess de Lamotte induced him to purchase for the queen a diamond necklace costing 85,000 pounds, which had been made for Madame Dubarry, from a jeweller named Boehmer. The cardinal handed the necklace to the countess, who rather than presenting it to the queen sold it to an English jeweller and pocketed the money. When the time for payment arrived , Boehmer sent his bill to the queen, who denied all knowledge of the matter. The matter went to court, and a trial lasting nine months ensued which caused great scandal.
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A dicker was a British measurement of gloves equal to ten dozen pairs and of hides equal to ten hides.
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Dickinson College is one of the older American colleges. It was founded at Carlisle, Pennsylvania., in 1783, and named in honour of John Dickinson, then president of the State, who gave it valuable gifts. A Presbyterian institution from its foundation until 1833, it was then transferred to the Methodists. President Buchanan and Chief Justice Taney were among its alumni.
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A dictionary is a book explaining or translating words giving some or all of their pronunciation, spelling, meaning, part of speech and entomology, where as an encyclopaedia deals with subjects rather than specifically words.
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Didactic poetry is that poetry which seeks to teach a moral lesson.
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A die-hard is someone who refuses to surrender or give-up. The term was given as a nickname to the old 57th Regiment of Foot (later known as the West Middlesex Regiment) following their involvement at the Battle of Albuera in 1811 when their colonel, Inglis, told his men to 'die hard'. At the battle the regimental banner was pierced with thirty bullet holes, twenty-three of the twenty-four officers were killed and 416 of the 584 men killed.
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Dieu et mon droit (God and my right) is the motto of the English royal family. The motto was the parole of Richard I at the Battle of Gisors in 1198, meaning that he was no vassal of France, but owed his royalty to God alone. The French were decisively beaten and the phrase adopted as the motto of the English, first assumed as a royal motto by Henry VI.
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Diffusionism is the theory that human culture was spread by degrees by outward expansion from a single source, as opposed to the view that cultures are developed independently and are only diffused when a particular people develops a more or less permanent type of culture which is well in advance of that of neighbouring peoples and becomes impressed upon the latter.
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Digamma was an ancient Greek letter, which was already obsolete in classical times, and so called because its form resembled a double gamma. It was pronounced like an English w.
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The Dighton rock is a rock lying in the tide on the side of Taunton River, in Berkeley, Massachusetts, formerly in Dighton, and marked with a curious inscription. It attracted early attention on the part of antiquaries. Rafn in 1837 declared that its markings were a runic inscription of the Northmen, relating to the expedition of Thorfinn Karlsefne, but this view has generally been abandoned, though the central portion may be Norse.
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A diligence was a French stage-coach. It was the national vehicle on the regular routes; had four wheels, two compartments, a deck, and a dickey; and was drawn by from four to seven horses.
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Dillies were stagecoaches first run in Britain in 1770. Their name derived from the French diligence, a four-wheeled stage coach drawn by four or more horses and common in France at the time.
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Dimity is a strong cotton material with raised patterns, usually white, used for curtains and especially bed-curtains during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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A Diomedean swap is an exchange in which all the benefit is on one side.
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A diota was a Roman vessel used for water or wine. It had a narrow neck, a full body, and two handles. The form and sized varied, but it was generally made tall and narrow, and terminating in a point which could be put in a stand or into the ground to keep the vessel upright. Several were found in the cellars of Pompeii standing upright in the ground.
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The Diplomatic Protection Group is a squad of about 500 armed police officers of Scotland Yard focused on responding to the needs of London's diplomatic community. The squad's duties include protecting embassies from terrorist attacks.
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A dirt-closet is a form of toilet in which rather than the waste being flushed away to a sewage treatment plant, as happens in a water-closet, the waste is collected in a bucket and then dry earth is poured over the top. The dry earth quickly absorbs the moisture from the waste, preventing it from smelling, and also enables appropriate bacteria to quickly establish themselves and biodegrade the waste into safe matter. The dirt from a dirt-closet may be reused up to five times, and then forms an excellent fertiliser for plants. The domestic dirt-close was popular during the 19th century, until the water-closet gained in popularity. Dirt-closets are environmentally friendly, cheap to operate and produce a useful by-product. Unfortunately they require maintenance, as the bucket in which the waste and dirt collects has to be emptied, and the hopper for the dirt filled.
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A discipline was a scourge used by Roman Catholics for penitential purposes.
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In art, discord is the effect of reversing the natural tonal order of colours. Colours naturally progress from pale yellow to dark violet, as in rainbow.
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In law, a Disorderly House is a house where persons meet for unlawful purposes, such as a brothel or gaming-house.
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The dissolution of the monasteries in England was carried out by Henry VIII between 1535 and 1539. This was an attack on Church property for three reasons. First, the monks were the main supporters of the Papal authority in England, and they were members of orders which were spread over Europe. It had proved possible to separate the English bishops and clergy from allegiance to the Pope; this was not possible with the monastic orders, which were international, not insular, institutions. The second reason was the wealth of the monasteries, which was the result of the pious bequest of many centuries. The cry against monastic wealth had been raised many times previously in English history, particularly by John Wycliffe and others from the time of Edward III and Richard II. The courtiers of Henry VIII and the rising middle class were greedy for land, and Henry VIII saw that by ministering to their greed he could make his new nobility and their new property a firm support of his Reformation. The third reason for ending the monasteries was
the reason given to Parliament: that the monks had outlived their day of usefulness and were abandoned to idleness and vice. There were over 600 religious houses in England, and no doubt there was some truth in this charge. Zealous churchmen had long known that all was not well with these ancient institutions. In Henry VII's reign the Oxford Reformers had rebuked monkish follies, and Cardinal Morton had noted the 'incurable uselessness' of many of the smaller houses where the monks were idle and ignorant. Cardinal Wolsey had obtained a Papal Bull to visit the monasteries, and had begun to suppress some, intending to use their revenues for the benefit of education and the New Learning and to found new bishoprics. One of them, St. Frideswide's Priory at Oxford, he converted into Cardinal College (later Christ Church).
In 1535 Henry VIII made Thomas Cromwell his Vicar-General, 'with power to visit any monastery in England'. The character of Cromwell was sufficient guarantee that the visitation would not be conducted fairly. He knew what was expected of him; he was to be 'The Hammer of the Monks'. His agents hurried through England, visited some of the monasteries, and drew up an evil report. This report unfortunately no longer exists. Our only information is derived from Cromwell's note-books and from the letters of his agents, from which we may gather something of their methods. For example, Dr. Layton, vicar of Harrow-on-the-Hill, dashed through southern England from Gloucestershire to Rent between August and October 1535. He condemned monasteries wholesale, on insufficient evidence, although at the same time he did not scruple to accept bribes from some, or to help himself to plate and jewels from others.
However, Parliament was satisfied, and the country squires, anxious for the 'goods of the Church', shouted ' Down with them!' The Act dissolving 276 of the lesser monasteries of England in 1536 was the last important Act of the Reformation Parliament. In dissolving the smaller monasteries first, Henry VIII had cautiously tested his power. But his violent measures had by 1536 caused grave discontent, especially in the west and north, and in Parliament itself. His wholesale destruction of the smaller monasteries was followed by two popular uprisings. The first occurred in Lincolnshire, where the rebels were crushed by a military force under the Duke of Suffolk. The second rising, in Yorkshire in 1536, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, was much more serious. The following year the famous shrine of Becket at Canterbury was attacked. Thomas Becket was declared in April 1538 'a false saint and a traitor to the Supreme Head of the Church'; his bones were burnt; his shrine pillaged and its offerings confiscated. Then Henry VIII was ready to turn his attention to the greater monasteries, although Parliament had saved them earlier because of their good conduct. Cromwell and his agents in 1539 began a persecution of the abbots: many were induced to surrender their abbeys to the king; others could only be reduced by methods of terror.
The Abbots of Reading and Colchester were tried for treason; the Abbot of Glastonbury for felony. All three were executed. The odious methods of Cromwell are well shown in some notes left in his own handwriting: 'To see that the evidence be well sorted and the indictments well drawn against the said abbots. The Abbot of Reading to be sent down to be tried and executed at Reading with his accomplices. The Abbot of Glaston to be tried at Glaston, and also executed there with his accomplices.' The last Abbot of Glastonbury, a pious, venerable man beloved in the countryside, was executed with two of his brethren on Glastonbury Tor, after a mock trial in November 1539. These ferocities had the desired effect: many less brave spirits gave in, and soon there were no monasteries left. The dissolution of 616 religious houses was the greatest revolution in the ownership of land in England since the Norman Conquest. The monastic income has been variously estimated at between one-fifth and one-third of the total rental of England.
This newly acquired wealth the king might have used in developing public works, such as education. Some of it was spent in re-building the Navy; but the king's own greed and the greed of courtiers swallowed most of the spoil. A thousand newly enriched families became the nobility on which Henry in future relied for support. The 'Abbey' where the descendants or successors of these Tudor families now live is a name to be found in many an English village. But sad indeed was the fate of the original buildings. Some, like the great church at Tewkesbury, have been preserved in the form of parish churches; others have been partly preserved to form cathedrals. But the greater number were ruthlessly destroyed by their new possessors, their roofs despoiled for the valuable lead, their walls made quarries for new buildings, their treasures scattered, and their ruins left desolate. Whatever defence may be made for the suppression of the monastic orders, no excuse can be offered for this orgy of destruction, which deprived England of some of her noblest monuments.
It is probable that at least 15000 persons were cast adrift. These people went to swell the already large number of the unemployed, for whom Tudor statesmanship could find no better relief than the savage punishments inflicted on thieves and vagabonds. Some of the monks were given benefices or pensioned by the Government, but the pensions were not always paid; the occupants of the lesser houses fared worse than those of the greater. The hospitality which the monks had always given to the poor was now removed. There was nothing to take its place, and many monks and nuns joined the ranks of those who had formerly subsisted on their charity. Many gaps were left in national life, for the abbeys, said Aske 'were one of the beauties of this realm to all men and strangers passing through the same; all gentlemen much succoured in their needs with money, and in nunneries their daughters brought up in virtue. And such abbeys as were near the danger of seabanks were great maintainers of sea-walls and dykes, builders of bridges and highways, and such other things for the commonwealth.'
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Originally, in England, a divan was a coffee house where smoking was the chief attraction.
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The Doctor Wind is a prevailing daytime breeze which blows onto the island of Jamaica from the sea.
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The dog days are the hottest part of the year in Europe, being part of July and August. Formerly the dog days were specifically the period during which Sirius, the dog-star, rises approximately with the sun.
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In geography the doldrums is a region of calms and baffling winds near the equator.
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A dolly shop was formerly a shop where rags and refuse were bought and sold. They were so called on account of the sign of a black doll suspended outside the shop.
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A dolos is an animal bone, usually a knuckle bone, used for divination.
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The Domesday Book is a record of the survey conducted in England in 1086 by officials of William The Conqueror so as to assess taxes etc.
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Domestic servants, also known as domestics, are members of a household employed to assist with the running of various aspects of the household. During the 18th century in England servants were commonplace, with almost all employed families able to afford servants, or rather domestic drudges, who were supplied from the workhouses and charity schools and treated little better than slaves for the most part. While in apprenticeship female domestic drudges, or scullery-maids also known as scullions, were not paid and could not leave their mistress. Even less fortunate were charwomen, employed for odd work or single days to assist in the kitchen and paid with just a few scraps of food and a few coals.
Page boys, usually black, were employed by the fashionable women of 18th century London to precede her and hand refreshments to her guests. Footmen were similarly employed more for show than labour to impress the guests and people one met on ones travels, hence they received their slang name of 'fart catchers', from their position of walking behind their master or mistress, dressed up in fancy clothes provided by the household as a form of uniform for the job.
By the 19th century conditions had improved for some servants, though for the lower staff they were still appalling. In the mid-19th century Mrs Beeton, the famous author, lists domestic servants in order of rank as follows:
Households would employ a election of servants varying upon the household income, a very wealthy household employing a full selection of servants, a less fabulously wealthy household maybe just employing a housekeeper, a cook or a maid-of-all-work. A chamberlain being only employed by the king or noblemen of very high position. In the mid-19th century most households which employed servants employed two or three male servants, comprising a servant out of livery, or a butler, a footman and a coachman, or a coachman and a groom where the household had more than two or three horses. A popular mis-conception is that cooks are, and were, always female. Not so. Male cooks were also employed in the 19th century and were paid more than their female counterpart.
Each domestic servant had their own scope of duties or responsibilities, though these overlapped depending upon the number of domestic servants employed. A butler, for example, where only one footman was employed would be required to perform some of the duties of a valet, to pay bills and to superintend the other servants.
19th century English society was warned against abusing its servants, for, as Mrs Beeton puts it; "The sensible master and kind mistress know, that if servants depend on them for their means of living, in their turn they are dependent on their servants for very many of the comforts of life; and that, with a proper amount of care in choosing servants, and treating them like reasonable beings, and making slight excuses for the shortcomings of human nature, they will, save in some exceptional case, be tolerably well served, and in most instances, surround themselves with attached domestics." It was possible for domestic servants to progress up the ranks, usually through leaving one position and seeking a higher appointment at another employer. In order to achieve this a servant required a good reference from their employer, and this encouraged a degree of honesty in a position with a lot of opportunity for misappropriation.
The Great War instigated a great deal more equality in British society and the use of domestic servants greatly reduced, though it was still not extinct in the 21st century.
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A domicile is the country or place of a person's permanent home, which may differ from that of his nationality or place of residence. Domicile is determined by both the physical fact of residence and the continued intention of remaining there. For example, a citizen of a foreign country who is resident in Britain is not necessarily domiciled there unless he intends to make it his permanent home. Under the common law, it is domicile and not residence or nationality that determines a person's civil status, including the capacity to marry. A corporation may also have a domicile, which is determined by its place of registration.
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Dominant ideology means the principal ideas, values and morals in a given society. It is a particular version of reality but only one of a number of possible versions. These ideas may, however, be so well established that members of society believe them to be naturally given and beyond question (like when people thought the earth was flat). It is possible for different ideologies to exist within a given society different versions of reality but they lack the persuasive power and generalised acceptance enjoyed by the
dominant ideology. Marxist sociologists have pointed out that ideologies are rarely neutral, and serve to justify and support the interests of a powerful social group over less-powerful groups. The dominant ideology thesis asserts that working-class subordination in capitalist societies is largely the outcome of the cultural dominance achieved by the capitalist class. For Marx, the ruling ideas in a given society are always the ideas of the ruling social group. This theory is well supported by evidence of the general blind acceptance of the 'goodness' of pharmaceuticals purveyed by the immensely powerful pharmaceutical industries in the west, despite negative evidence such as dependency and side effects. Feminine sociologists make a similar point, but starting from a different premise. Some sociologists, such as Abercrombie, criticise the dominant ideology thesis, arguing that its proponents overestimate the extent to which different groups are integrated into the dominant culture, and underestimate the extent to which different
groups can generate ideas which run counter to dominant ideologies. However, evidence to support this criticism is sparse, but contrary evidence is widespread in the persecution of Copernicus, Galileo, and the 20th century AIDS dissidents, all of which questioned a dominant ideology only to be hounded and ridiculed at the time.
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A dominatrix is a woman who plays the dominant role in sex games.
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On August the 4th 1842 the Congress of the USA passed a donation act for the Territory of East Florida. Persons who could bear arms were allowed one quarter section of land upon which to settle. On September the 27th, 1850, a donation act was passed for Oregon, granting settlers from 160 to 640 acres.
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Dora The Explorer is an American animated cartoon television show for young children created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh, and Eric Weiner which aims to teach problem solving skills and basic Spanish (with a view to making children curious about other languages). Dora The Explorer is about a young girl of Latin ethnicity who has exploring adventures which usually end-up with her rescuing someone or searching for some lost item. Dora The Explorer first aired on the Satellite television channel Nick Jr in 2000.
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In 1623, under the lead of the Reverend John White, certain English Puritans, wearied of King Charles' persecutions, formed the Dorchester Company, for trading and fishing, and established a settlement at Cape Ann in America. The company was dissolved in 1626, but was revived in 1628 by a number of wealthy Englishmen, and John Endicott assumed the government at Naumkeag, now Salem, whither the first settlers had removed. In 1629 the company was enlarged and, obtaining a royal charter, formed the Massachusetts Bay colony.
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Dornock is a stout, figured linen formerly much used for tablecloths. It is named after the town in Scotland where it was formerly made.
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The Dorr Rebellion was an effort made between 1840 and 1842 to overturn the State government of Rhode Island by revolutionary means. After the Declaration of Independence, Rhode Island retained her charter government. Many of the citizens, headed by Thomas Dorr, of Providence, became discontented with the existing government and its limited suffrage. Mass meetings were held, and in October, 1841, a convention of delegates prepared a Constitution, which was submitted to a popular vote, and was claimed to have received a majority of the votes of the State. The legitimate government treated these proceedings as nugatory, and, in a measure, criminal. On May the 3rd, 1842, the 'suffrage legislature' assembled at Newport, with Thomas Dorr as Governor. King, the legitimate Governor, proclaimed martial law. The suffrage party appealed to arms. Their troops were dispersed and Thomas Dorr fled. He was afterward captured and convicted of treason, but was pardoned in 1852.
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The dosah (treading) was a ceremony which used to be performed at Cairo on the return of the holy carpet from Mecca. The sheik of the Sa'di dervishes rode on horseback over the bodies of devotees, killing some, injuring others more or less severely; those who escaped unhurt were deemed to be specially honoured by god. The rite was suppressed by the Khedive in 1884.
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A doss was a hassock stuffed with straw to forma bed. From which evolved the modern slang term for to sleep, and a cheap lodging house.
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In law, double jeopardy refers to subjecting someone to a second trial or course of punishment for an offence for which they have already been tried or punished.
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The double-headed eagle is a familiar symbol which originates from the German eagle which is depicted looking right, and the Russian eagle which is depicted looking left. When Charlemagne was made Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire he joined the two symbolic eagles together to form a double-headed eagle looking simultaneously both east and west.
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A dovetail is a wedge-shaped tenon. Dovetails are frequently used in quality cabinet making for strong joints between pieces of wood.
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Dr Finlay's Casebook was a British BBC drama television series created by A J Cronin, starring Bill Simpson, about a doctor in a Scottish village practice during the 1920's. Dr Finlay's Casebook ran from 1962 to 1971.
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Dr Who is a British BBC science-fiction television series for children, created in part by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert, and originally starring William Hartnell, in stories about a renegade alien able to travel through space and time, known as a 'Time Lord', battling evil through space and time, equipped with a time machine which looked like a 1960's police telephone box - the TARDIS - and later a 'sonic screwdriver'. Dr Who ran from 1963 to 1989, before being returned in 2005 following public demand. Dr Who is remarkable for many things, not least making eerily accurate predictions about future life; in the first story, shown in 1963, the British adoption of the decimal money system was correctly predicted and in a later story a British female Prime Minister was predicted.
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Dragon was the Celtic word for a Chief. This has led to confusion through history where writers refer to a dragon being slain by a knight, and readers confuse the reality of a Celtic chief being killed, with that of a knight battling a massive fire-breathing, winged reptile.
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The Dragon of Wantley (Warncliff, Yorkshire) is an English legend about More of More Hall who slayed a monster. The story recounts how More procures a suit of armour studded with spikes and proceeded to the well where the dragon had his lair. Once their, the hero kicked the dragon in his mouth - the only vulnerable part - and killed it.
An explanation for the legend is provided by Dr Percy who says that the 'dragon' was actually an overgrown, rascally attorney, who had cheated some children of their estate, but who was made to disgorge by a gentleman named More, who went against him, armed with the spikes of the law, after which the attorney died of vexation.
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Dragon's-tail was the old palmistry name for the line marking the separation between the hand and the arm.
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The dram is a unit of the avoirdupois scale equivalent to 1.772 grams.
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In Theatre, a Dramaturg is a person who serves as an editor for a theatre company, helping to select plays and helping writers refine their work. He or she is sometimes called a literary manager.
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A Drashig is an imaginary monster that appears in the BBC television series Dr Who story 'The Carnival of Monsters'. The Drashigs were large, worm-like, simple minded carnivores with an unrelenting determination to pursue their prey once detected. The name 'Drashig' was formed from an anagram of 'dishrag'.
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A draw-knife is a carpenter's tool consisting of a usually curved blade with a handle at each end at right angles to it. In use the draw-knife is drawn towards the user to remove wood from a surface, similar to a plane but more controllable. Draw-knives were anciently used for roughly rounding timber prior to turning on a lathe, and are still used by craftsmen around the world.
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A dray is an ancient form of low cart in which the shafts are elongated to form rails along which a load may be rolled onto the rear of the cart's inclined bed.
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The Drayton and Sayres' Case was a fugitive slave case that occurred in America in 1848. It resulted from Captain Drayton, of the schooner Pearl, carrying seventy-five escaped negroes up the Potomac on his vessel. An armed steamer captured the vessel and brought those on board back. The captain and another of the vessel's officers were put in prison, where they remained until 1852, when they were released through the instrumentality of Charles Sumner.
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The Dred Scott vs. Sanford case was a slave incident that occurred in America. In 1834 Dred Scott, a negro slave of Missouri, was taken by his master, who was a surgeon in the regular army, first into Illinois and then into Minnesota, a region from which slavery was expressly excluded by the celebrated Missouri Compromise of 1820. While in Minnesota Dred Scott was married with his master's consent, but on being brought back to Missouri in 1838, he and his wife and children were sold to another master. Dred Scott brought action for trespass in a St Louis court, and a decision was made in his favour on the ground that, under the provisions of the Missouri Compromise, the negro was free. The Supreme Court of Missouri reversed this decision, and the case came before the Federal Circuit Court in 1854. The defendant slave-holder pleaded that Dred Scott was not a citizen entitled to sue and be sued in the US Courts. The court held the contrary, but the jury's verdict decided the plaintiff still a slave. The case came before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1857. Here the judgment of the Circuit Court was reversed, and the case dismissed on the ground that no negro, bond or free, could plead in the US Courts as a citizen. The court then, though denying its jurisdiction over the dispute, discussed the constitutional points. Dred Scott's status in Illinois was declared determined by his Missouri domicile. As regarded the Minnesota Territory the court declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional and void, it being held that States alone could prohibit slavery from their boundaries. Chief Justice Taney read the opinion of a majority of the court, all slave-holders, declaring 'negroes so inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect'. Justices Curtis and McLean dissented. Dred Scott was afterwards freed by his master. The decision and case roused great excitement in the North.
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A dreidel is a four-sided top with each side decorated with one of the four Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he or shin. Dreidels are traditionally used to play a children's game on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
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A dress-guard was a wing on the side of a carriage entrance to prevent the brushing of a lady's dress against the wheel as she got in or out of the carriage.
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A droshky is a Russian, light carriage on four wheels and without a covering. The first droshkies were formed of a board placed across two pairs of wheels, enabling the passengers to sit sideways like in an Irish jaunting car. At the start of the 20th century, droshkies were used as taxis in Russia.
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Drugget is a woollen fabric or felt, the heavier kinds of which were used as a border for carpet squares, for covering carpets and sometimes in place of carpet. The name was also used to describe a coarse woollen fabric formerly used in some parts of Britain for women's dresses.
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A drumlin is an irregular, rounded, hog-backed mound of boulder clay, often from a hundred to two hundred feet high and hundreds of yards long. They are abundant in most flat countries over which an ice sheet has passed.
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Drunk as a Lord is an old British saying, meaning very intoxicated. The phrase originates from the early nineteenth century, before the temperance movement took hold, when those that could afford to, e.g. Lords, would typically consume three or more bottles of port wine at dinner, with the result that most dinners ended with the guests under the table in a state of total inebriation.
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A drunkard's cloak was a tub with holes for the arms to pass through, formerly used as a punishment for scolds and drunkards.
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The Drury Lane Theatre is an historic English theatre in London's West End. The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal, opened in 1663. As theatres often did in those days, it burned down nine years later, but was rebuilt again in 1874. From 1746 to 1776, Garrick was the resident star and co- manager. Richard Brinsley Sheridan succeeded Garrick as manager, and several of his plays were produced there. The theatre burned down again in 1809, was rebuilt in 1812. During the 1800s it was occasionally home to famous stars like Edmund Kean and George MacReady. In the latter 1800s it was associated with spectacular melodramas and stage machinery. Since the 1920s it has featured big, Broadway-style musicals.
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A dry shave is a shave without first soaping the face.
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The Dubuque Visitor was the first of the early news publications in Iowa. It was established at Dubuque Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory (now Dubuque, Iowa), in May, 1836, by John King. It was later published as the Dubuque Herald.
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The ducking stool was a chair fixed to the end of a movable beam, in which shrewish offenders were in England bound and ducked in water as a punishment and torture. The penalty was inflicted on scolds of both sexes, quarrelsome married couples being immersed tied back-to-back. In some districts unruly paupers and dishonest tradesfolk (particularly brewers of bad beer and bakers of bad bread) were also punished by means of the ducking stool. The last recorded use of the ducking stool in England was in 1809 at Leominster.
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Dudgeon is the timber from the root of the box-tree. It was at one time used for making the handles of small daggers, which were then known as dudgeons.
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A duel (from the Latin duellum) is a single combat following on a challenge, and conducted according to the regulations of the code of honour. The origin of the practice may probably be traced to the judicial combats of the northern tribes who overthrew the Roman power. Possessing no well-defined system of jurisprudence, they refereed the settlement of all disputes to an appeal to arms, invoking the deity to defend the right.
Duelling with small swords was introduced into England in 1587 from France. The first recorded English duel took place in 1096 between William count of Eu and Godfrey Baynard. Duelling has always been illegal in England, with the issue of a challenge seen as a breach of the peace and the killing of an opponent as murder or manslaughter, with the charge raised against the survivor and the seconds. Notable duels include: Between the duke of Hamilton and lord Mohun which was fought with small swords in Hyde Park on the 15th of November 1712. Lord Mohun was killed on the spot and the duke died of his wounds as he was being carried to his coach. On the 8th of June 1807 a Mr Alcock killed a Mr Colcough and went mad as a result. On the 21st of March 1829 the Duke of Wellington and the earl of Winchelsea duelled with no injury, indeed the duel was a farce with both parties firing into the air.
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A duffle bag is a sturdy, cylindrical canvas bag originally used by servicemen for carrying kit. Stout cord is threaded through metal, eyelets and drawn together to seal the top. The duffle bag shape has been used in shoulder bags, made of various fabrics, from the 1970s.
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Duke's Laws were a code of American laws drawn up in 1664 by Colonel Nicolls, then governing the colonies of the Duke of York's patent. They were first arranged for the government of the Dutch settlers of Long Island. They prohibited the election of magistrates, but provided for trial by jury, equal taxation, tenure of lands from the Duke of York, freedom of religion, liability to military duty, and recognition of negro slavery under certain restrictions.
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The Duma was the lower House of the Russian Imperial Parliament. It was created in 1905 by the Constitution granted by Tsar Nicholas II, and replaced in 1917 by the Soviet system.
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The Dunblane massacre occurred on the 13th of March 1996 when Thomas Hamilton, a former Scout leader with a grudge against the scout movement, walked into a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, armed with four handguns and shot down a class of five and six-year old children before shooting himself. A result of the killings was a ban on private ownership of hand guns above .22 calibre in the United Kingdom. Critics of the ban pointed out that almost all gun crime is carried out with widely available illegal weapons, and instances of a licensed firearm being used by its owner to carry out a crime are almost non-existent in the UK.
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A dune is a wavelike mound or ridge the materials of which have been accumulated and shaped by the wind. Dunes may occur where ever sand is formed; by the margins of seas lakes and rivers, in inland regions of low rainfall, which are the most extensive dune-covered areas.
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A dungeon is an underground prison, originally in the keep of a Norman castle.
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In law, duress is the unlawful constraint or compulsion of a person by physical action or threats.
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Dutch Mordant is an acid used in etching for dissolving parts of the plate. Dutch Mordant comprises a solution of hydrochloric acid and potassium chlorate providing a clean and regular action which is preferred for fine, close work such as aquatint and soft-ground etching.
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The Dutch West India Company or Chartered West India Company (Geoctroyeerde Westindische Compagnie) was a company chartered by the States-General of the United Netherlands in 1621, at the instance of Willem Usselinx. It was given a monopoly of trade with America for twenty-four years, with the right to colonize and to make wars and alliances. It colonized and governed New Netherlands (until 1664) and also certain West India islands and a part of Brazil. It was rechartered for twenty-five years in 1647. Its preoccupation with military efforts in Brazil prevented its doing much for New Netherlands.
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A dyke (dike) is a ditch or earthworks. The term is most often applied to earthworks built to reclaim land from the sea or rivers.
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Dynamite Saturday is January the 24th, so named after January the 24th 1885 when terrorist attacks upon the Houses of Parliament and Tower of London using dynamite caused great damage to the buildings. Attacks upon the Law-Courts and some other public buildings were prevented by them being well guarded.
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Dynasty was an American soap opera television series following the lives of a wealthy Denver family - the 'Carringtons' in the oil business. Dynasty was created by Esther Shapiro and Richard Shapiro and first ran from 1981 to 1989.
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