born Nov. 29, 1818, Edinburgh, Scot.—died May. 9, 1880, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Canadian journalist and politician. He immigrated to New York in 1837 and in 1843 moved to Toronto, where he founded The Globe (1844), a reformist political newspaper. As a member of the Canadian assembly (1857–65), he advocated proportional representation, the confederation of British North America, acquisition of the Northwest Territories, and separation of church and state. He later became a leader of the Clear Grits movement. In 1873 he was appointed to the Canadian Senate, though he continued to manage his influential and popular newspaper (later The Globe and Mail). Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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in full Ronald Harmon Brown U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Born Ronald Harmon Brown on August 1, 1941 in Washington, D.C. Raised in Harlem, New York, Brown graduated from Vermont's Middlebury College. He joined the Army in 1962 and served four years in South Korea and Germany. Upon his return home, Brown joined the National Urban League and earned his law degree from St. John's University while working as a welfare caseworker for the City of New York. Brown was a champion of civil rights as Deputy Executive Director, General Counsel and Vice President for Washington operations for the National Urban League. He resigned his posts in 1979 to serve as a deputy campaign manager for Senator Edward M. Kennedy's Democratic presidential bid. He also served as chief counsel for the Senate Judiciary Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Kennedy. After working as a lawyer and lobbyist for the Washington, D.C., law firm Patton, Boggs & Blow in the 1980s, Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1989. Brown was a key player in Bill Clinton's successful bid for the presidency in 1992 and was subsequently appointed Secretary of Commerce in 1993. He was the first African American to hold this title. During his tenure, Brown made it his mission to generate jobs and provide opportunities for ordinary Americans. On April 3, 1996, while on an official trade mission, Brown and 34 others were killed in an airplane crash in Croatia. Though there were several conspiracy theories surrounding the accident, the official report found that the crash was due to a "failure of command, aircrew error and an improperly designed instrument approach procedure." Brown is survived by his wife Alma, his son Michael, and daughter Tracy. Following Brown's death, President Clinton established the Ron Brown Award for corporate leadership and responsibility. The U.S. Department of Commerce also presents the Ronald H. Brown American Innovator Award each year.

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born April 16, 1821, Calais, France—died October 6, 1893, London, England) English painter whose work is associated with that of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, although he was never a member. Brown studied art from 1837 to 1839 in Bruges and Antwerp, Belgium. His early work is characterized by sombre colour and dramatic feeling suited to the Byronic subjects that he painted in Paris during 1840–43, such as Manfred on the Jungfrau ( 1840) and Parisina's Sleep (1842). Already concerned with the accurate representation of natural phenomena, he drew from corpses in University College Hospital in London when painting his Prisoner of Chillon (1843). During a visit to Italy in 1845, he met Peter von Cornelius, a member of the former Lukasbund, or Nazarenes. This meeting undoubtedly influenced both Brown's palette and his style. His interest in brilliant, clear colour and neomedievalism first appears in Wyclif Reading His Translation of the Scriptures to John of Gaunt (1847). In 1848 Brown briefly accepted Dante Gabriel Rossetti as a pupil, and in 1850 Brown contributed to the Pre-Raphaelites' magazine, Germ. Like William Holman Hunt, Brown painted in the open air to obtain naturalistic accuracy. His most famous picture, Work (1852–63), which can be seen as a Victorian social document, was first exhibited at a retrospective exhibition held in London (1865), for which he wrote the catalog. He also worked as a book illustrator with William Morris; produced stained glass, at, among other sites, St. Oswald's, Durham (1864–65); and between 1879 and 1893 completed a series of 12 murals for the Manchester town hall, depicting scenes from the city's history. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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(born Jan. 17, 1771, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died Feb. 22, 1810, Philadelphia) U.S. writer. Brown left his law studies to devote himself to writing. His gothic novels in American settings were the first in a tradition later adapted by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Wieland (1798), his best-known work, shows the ease with which mental balance is lost when common sense is confronted with the uncanny. His writings reflect a thoughtful liberalism while exploiting horror and terror. He has been called the “father of the American novel.� Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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born Sept. 13, 1922, Texas City, Texas, U.S.—died Jan. 21, 1999, Oakland, Calif.) American blues singer of the late 1940s and early 1950s who was best known for his melodic ballads. One of the most influential singers of his day, Brown was an accomplished classical pianist whose career began in 1943 after he moved to Los Angeles. He played with the Bardu Ali band before joining Johnny Moore's Three Blazers, a piano-guitar-bass combo that rose to stardom with “Driftin' Blues,� recorded at their first session for Aladdin Records in 1946. The next year they recorded Brown's “Merry Christmas, Baby,� which became a holiday favourite. Irked that he was not receiving the same billing or money as guitarist Moore, who neither wrote nor sang, Brown left the group in 1948 to form his own trio and continued to record for Aladdin through 1952. His smooth, quiet vocals (he rarely recorded up-tempo material) were perfect for the sophisticated urban blues audience of the day, and he managed to produce two number one rhythm-and-blues hits, “Trouble Blues� (1949) and “Black Night� (1951), during this period. As rhythm and blues became more raucous and laid the foundations for rock and roll, Brown, who was too gritty to follow Nat King Cole (whom he superficially resembled) into the pop arena, continued to record with less success, although “Please Come Home for Christmas� was a hit in 1961. Eventually he retired, occasionally performing in lounges and giving piano and organ lessons. Rediscovered by blues enthusiasts in the early 1980s and helped financially by one of the first grants from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, he found a new audience, recorded several albums that showed his powers undiminished by time, and toured with Bonnie Raitt in 1990. Brown was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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in full Paul Eugene Brown (born September 7, 1908, Norwalk, Ohio, U.S.—died August 5, 1991, Cincinnati, Ohio) American gridiron football coach known for his cerebral approach, innovative methods, iron rule, and cool demeanour. Brown coached winning teams in high school, college, armed forces, and professional football. Brown was an undersized quarterback at Miami University (Ohio), where he received a B.A. in education in 1930. He took a job as a teacher and football coach at Servern Prep School in 1930, compiling a 16–1–1 record in two seasons. From 1932 to 1940 he coached his high-school alma mater at Massillon, Ohio, to several state championships and an 80–8–2 record. He became head coach at Ohio State University in 1941, where his teams went 18–9–1 and won the national collegiate championship in 1942. In 1944–45 he coached the team at Great Lakes Training Station, going 15–5–2. While at Great Lakes he agreed to coach Cleveland's professional team, scheduled to begin play in 1946 in the new All-America Football Conference. Brown's popularity in Ohio was such that the team was named the Browns in his honour. During the AAFC's four seasons, the Browns won all four championships, with a total record 52–4–3. In 1950 the Browns moved to the National Football League (NFL) and immediately won the championship; they also won titles in 1954–55. Although Brown's teams continued to win, he was fired by Cleveland's owner Art Modell in 1962. After a six-year retirement, he returned to the NFL as founder and coach of an expansion team, the Cincinnati Bengals, and by the third year the team had won its division. He retired from coaching in 1975 but remained team president until his death. Overall his professsional record was 222–102–9. Among the unique methods and innovations for which Brown was famous were classroom study and notebooks for players (he even gave written tests), extensive use of film to grade player performance as well as to spot tendencies of opponents and his own team, the modern pass-blocking “pocket,� the face mask, “messenger guards� so the coach could call plays, extensive use of “trap blocking� in the rushing attack, and sophisticated pass patterns. Many of his former players and assistants went on to coaching success in the NFL, including Hall of Famers Weeb Ewbank, Chuck Noll, Don Shula, and Bill Walsh. Brown was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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(born July 18, 1867, Hannibal, Mo, U.S.—died Oct. 26, 1932, New York, N.Y.) U.S. philanthropist, social reformer, and socialite. The daughter of Irish immigrants, she attended a grammar school and later worked orig. Margaret Tobin at a tobacco factory. She followed her brother 1884 to Colorado, where she met and married James Brown, a miner. After he found gold in 1894, they moved to Denver, where they were welcomed into society. She became a founding member of the Denver Woman's Club, part of a national network of women's clubs dedicated to improving the conditions of women and children. After her husband left her, she traveled to New York and Newport, where she enjoyed social success. As a passenger on the disastrous maiden voyage of the Titanic (1912), she helped command a lifeboat and was celebrated by the U.S. press as “the Unsinkable Mrs. Brown.� Her life, in the semilegendary form she herself recounted it, was popularized in a stage musical and movie. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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(born Dec. 21, 1773, Montrose, Angus, Scot.—died June 10, 1858, London, Eng.) Scottish botanist best known for his description of the natural continuous motion of minute particles in solution, which came to be called Brownian movement. In addition, he recognized the fundamental distinction between the conifers and their allies (gymnosperms) and the flowering plants (angiosperms), recognized and named the nucleus as a constant constituent of living cells in most plants, and improved the natural classification of plants by establishing and defining new families and genera. He also contributed substantially to knowledge of plant morphology, embryology, and geography, in particular by his original work on the flora of Australia. Brown was the son of a Scottish Episcopalian clergyman. He studied medicine at the universities of Aberdeen and Edinburgh and spent five years in the British army serving in Ireland as an ensign and assistant surgeon (1795–1800). A visit to London in 1798 brought Brown to the notice of Sir Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society. Banks recommended Brown to the Admiralty for the post of naturalist aboard a ship (the Investigator) for a surveying voyage along the northern and southern coasts of Australia under the command of Matthew Flinders. Brown sailed with the expedition in July 1801. The Investigator reached King George's Sound, Western Australia, an area of great floral richness and diversity, in December 1801. Until June 1803, and while the ship circumnavigated Australia, Brown made extensive plant collections. Returning to England in October 1805, Brown devoted his time to classifying the approximately 3,900 species he had gathered, almost all of which were new to science. The results of his Australian trip were partially published in 1810 as his Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae . . . , a classic of systematic botany and Brown's major work, in which he laid the foundations for Australian botany while refining the prevailing systems of plant classification. Disappointed by its small sale, however, he published only one volume. Brown's close observation of minute but significant details was also shown in his publication on Proteaceae, in which he demonstrated how the study of pollen-grain characters could assist in the classification of plants into new genera. In 1810 Banks appointed Brown as his librarian and in 1820 bequeathed him a life interest in his extensive botanical collection and library. Brown transferred them to the British Museum in 1827, when he became keeper of its newly formed botanical department. In 1828 he published a pamphlet, A Brief Account of Microscopical Observations . . . , in which he recorded that, after having noticed moving particles suspended in the fluid within living pollen grains of Clarkia pulchella, he examined both living and dead pollen grains of many other plants and observed a similar motion in the particles of all fresh pollen. Brown's experiments with organic and inorganic substances, reduced to a fine powder and suspended in water, then revealed such motion to be a general property of matter in that state. This phenomenon has long been known as Brownian motion (q.v.). In 1831, while dealing with the fertilization of Orchidaceae and Asclepiadaceae, he noted the existence of a structure within the cells of orchids as well as many other plants that he termed the “nucleus� of the cell. These observations testify to the range and depth of his pioneering microscopical work and his ability to draw far-reaching conclusions from isolated data or selected structures. Brown was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1810. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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in full Michael Stuart Brown born April 13, 1941, New York, N.Y., U.S.) American molecular geneticist who, along with Joseph L. Goldstein, was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for their elucidation of a key link in the metabolism of cholesterol in the human body. Brown graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1962 and received his M.D. from that university's medical school in 1966. He became friends with Goldstein when they were both working as interns at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston during 1966–68. After conducting research at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 1971, he became an assistant professor at the Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas, where he was reunited with his colleague Goldstein. In Dallas the two men began their collaborative research on the genetic factors that are responsible for high levels of cholesterol in the bloodstream. They compared the cells of normal persons with those of persons having familial hypercholesterolemia, which is an inherited tendency to get abnormally high blood cholesterol levels and, as a result, atherosclerosis and other circulatory ailments. Brown and Goldstein were able to trace a genetic defect in the afflicted persons that resulted in their lacking or being deficient in cell receptors for low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which are the primary cholesterol carrying particles. Their research established that these cell receptors draw the LDL particles into the cells as a prelude to breaking them down, and thus remove them from the bloodstream. The two men also discovered that the cell capture of such lipoproteins inhibits the further production of new LDL receptors by the cells, thus explaining how high-cholesterol diets overwhelm the body's natural capacity for withdrawing cholesterol from the bloodstream. Brown later collaborated with Goldstein in research to develop new drugs effective in lowering blood cholesterol levels and in researching the basic genetic code behind the LDL receptor. From 1977 he was professor and director of the Center for Genetic Diseases in Dallas. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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(born 1605/06, Oudenaarde, Flanders—died January 1638, Antwerp) Flemish painter. After studying with Frans Hals in Haarlem 1623, he returned to Flanders and by 1631 had settled in Antwerp. His pictures, mostly small and painted on panels, typically depict peasants drinking and brawling in taverns. The coarseness of his subjects was in direct contrast to his delicate technique; his virtuoso brushwork and sparkling tonal values were unsurpassed. Brouwer popularized genre painting in Flanders and Holland. Adriaen van Ostade and David Teniers were among his many followers. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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Born July 25, 1978, in Oldham, England. Louise Joy Brown is best known as the world's first "test-tube baby." Her birth by Caesarian section shortly before midnight on July 25, 1978, at Oldham General Hospital in England, made headlines around the world. Since 1968, Drs. Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe had been researching fertility methods that included artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, or IVF. IVF is the process in which an egg is removed from a woman's ovaries, harvested and fertilized with a male's sperm in a laboratory, then implanted in the woman's uterus where it develops to term. Although now widely accepted, the IVF process that ultimately led to the conception of Louise Brown was hotly debated within medical and religious circles alike. IVF is still considered unethical by many religious groups, and the physicians who practice this method of fertilization continue to face accusations of "playing God." Nonetheless, Since Louise's birth in 1978, over one million children have been born using the IVF procedure. Louise is said to dislike the description of herself as a "test tube baby," yet she remains proud of her personal role in the advancement of medical science. She has declined numerous offers from newspapers and television journals to sell her story; and despite her extraordinary beginning, she has managed to lead an unassuming life. At the time of her 21st birthday in 1999, she was working in a Bristol nursery. Her younger sister, Natalie, was also conceived by IVF. Natalie, born four years after Louise, is the first in vitro baby to give birth. Her child was conceived naturally. © 2008 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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(born April 3, 1837, near Roxbury, N.Y., U.S.—died March 29, 1921, en route from California to New York) U.S. essayist and naturalist. In his early years he worked as a teacher, farmer, and U.S. Treasury Department clerk. In 1873 he moved to a farm in the Hudson River valley. Traveling extensively, he hiked and camped with John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, among other friends, and accompanied an expedition to Alaska. His many books helped establish the genre of the nature essay; they include Wake-Robin (1871), Birds and Poets (1877), Locusts and Wild Honey (1879), Ways of Nature (1905), and Field and Study (1919). Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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Actor. Born Pierce Brendan Brosnan on May 16, 1953, in Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. After an unsettled childhood, he moved to London, where he joined an experimental theater group and studied at the Drama Centre. After several stage roles in London, he moved to Los Angeles, where he was offered the lead in the detective series Remington Steele, which debuted in 1982. He won over American television audiences with his good looks and charm. They tuned in to catch the show's latest mystery and watch the sparks fly between the two lead characters played by Brosnan and his co-star Stephanie Zimbalist. Offered the role of the famous fictional British spy, James Bond, in 1986, Brosnan tried to get out of his contract for the show, but failed. The series ended the next year. After Remington Steele, Brosnan acted in several television and film projects, including the television miniseries Around the World in 80 Days (1989), and the hit comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). In 1995, Brosnan finally took on the legendary film role of James Bond in Goldeneye, following in the footsteps of such actors as Sean Connery and Roger Moore. He played Bond three more times: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002). In 2006, Daniel Craig took over the part for the remake of the first Bond picture, Casino Royale. Besides playing the smooth, but deadly superspy, Brosnan has tackled numerous dramatic and comedic roles, including The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) with Rene Russo, Laws of Attraction (2004) with Julianne Moore, and The Matador (2005) with Greg Kinnear. He is also reportedly slated to appear in a sequel to the comedy smash Mrs. Doubtfire. Brosnan has been married twice. His first marriage to actress Cassandra Harris lasted from 1980 until her death in 1991. Brosnan adopted her two children Charlotte and Christopher and the couple had a son, Sean. In 2001, he married Keely Shaye. They have two children together, Paris and Dylan. © 2006 A&E Television Networks. All rights reserved.

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born 1735, Buncle, Berwickshire, Scot.—died Oct. 17, 1788, London) British propounder of the “excitability� theory of medicine, which classified diseases according to whether they had an over- or an understimulating effect on the body. Brown studied under the distinguished professor of medicine William Cullen at the University of Edinburgh, but was forced to receive his M.D. from St. Andrews (1779) because of his unpopularity with his colleagues. It was while studying with Cullen that Brown began to develop his theory, which held that all living tissues are “excitable� and postulated that the state of life is dependent on certain internal and external “exciting powers,� or stimuli, that operate on it. Brown viewed diseases as states of either decreased or increased excitability, and generally prescribed stimulants for the former condition and sedatives for the latter. His recommended treatments often consisted of wine or laudanum. In 1780 he published the celebrated exposition of his doctrine, Elementa Medicinae, which was appreciated as much for the purity of Brown's Latin as for the practicality of its teachings. It was read with attention and was well received throughout the medical centres of Europe. In the meantime, Brown's detractors in Edinburgh grew, his practice declined, and attendance at his lectures dropped. In debt—he had served time in a debtor's prison—and out of favour in Edinburgh, he moved his family to London, where he died not long after. Brown's theory was at the height of its popularity in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but it gradually went out of favour. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc

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byname of William Lee Conley Broonzy (born June 26, 1893, Scott, Miss., U.S.—died Aug. 14, 1958, Chicago, Ill.) American blues singer and guitarist who represented a tradition of itinerant folk blues. Broonzy grew up in Arkansas. He served in the army (1918–19) and moved to Chicago in 1920, where six years later he made his recording debut as guitar accompanist to black blues singers. Later he became a singer himself and by 1940 was recognized as one of the best-selling blues recording artists. His New York City concert debut was made at Carnegie Hall in 1938. In 1951 he visited Europe and soon became popular across that continent. At the height of his popularity in 1957, his vocal effectiveness was reduced by a lung operation, and he died the following year of cancer. Many students of the blues have found his work almost as fascinating for its sociological as for its strictly musical content. His mother, who was born a slave, died in 1957 at the age of 102, having survived to see Broonzy become a world-famous figure. His autobiography, Big Bill Blues, appeared in 1955. Copyright © 1994-2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

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