Bainsizza Plateau. See European War.
Bairam (bī´ram), the Easter of the Mohammedans, which follows immediately after the Ramadan or Lent (a month of fasting), and lasts three days. This feast during the course of thirty-three years makes a complete circuit of all the months and seasons, as the Turks reckon by lunar years. Sixty days after this first great Bairam begins the lesser Bairam. They are the only two feasts prescribed by the Mohammedan religion.
Baird, Sir David, a distinguished British soldier, was born in Aberdeenshire in 1757, and entered the army 1772. Having been promoted to a lieutenancy in 1778 he sailed for India, distinguished himself as a captain in the war against Hyder Ali, was wounded and taken prisoner, and confined in the fortress of Seringapatam for nearly four years. He and his fellow-prisoners were treated with great barbarity, and many of them died or were put to death, but at last (in 1784) all that survived were set at liberty. In 1787 he became major, and in 1791 joined the army under Cornwallis as lieutenant-colonel, and was appointed to the command of a brigade in the war against Tippoo. After much hard service he was made a colonel in 1795, went in 1797 to the Cape of Good Hope as brigadier-general, and in 1798, on his appointment as major-general, returned to India. In 1799 he commanded the storming party at the assault of Seringapatam, and, in requital, was presented with the State sword of Tippoo Saib. Being appointed in 1800 to command an expedition to Egypt, he landed at Kosseir in June, 1801, crossed the desert, and, embarking on the Nile, descended to Cairo, and thence to Alexandria, which he reached a few days before it surrendered to General Hutchinson. Next year he returned to India, but being soon after superseded by Sir Arthur Wellesley (Wellington), he sailed for Britain, where he was knighted and made K.B. With the rank of lieutenant-general he commanded an expedition in 1805 to the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1806, after defeating the Dutch, he received the surrender of the colony. He commanded a division at the siege of Copenhagen, and after a short period of service in Ireland sailed with 10,000 men for Corunna, where he formed a junction with Sir John Moore. He commanded the first division of Moore's army, and in the battle of Corunna lost his left arm. By the death of Sir John Moore, Sir David succeeded to the chief command, receiving for the fourth time the thanks of Parliament, and a baronetcy. In 1814 he was made a general. He died in 1829.
Baird, Spencer Fullerton, American naturalist, born 1823, died 1887. From 1850 to 1878 he was assistant secretary, and then became secretary, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and was also chief Government commissioner of fish and fisheries. He wrote much on natural history, his chief works being The Birds of North America (in conjunction with John Cassin), The Mammals of North America, Review of American Birds in the Smithsonian Institution, and (with Messrs. Brewer and Ridgeway) History of North American Birds.
Baireuth (bī´roit), a well-built and pleasantly-situated town of Bavaria, on the Red Main, 41 miles north-east of Nürnberg. The principal edifices, besides churches, are the old and the new palace, the opera-house, the gymnasium, and the national theatre, constructed after the design of the composer Wagner, and opened in
1876 with a grand performance of his tetralogy of the Nibelungen Ring. Industries: cotton-spinning, sugar-refining, musical instruments, sewing-machines, leather, brewing, &c. There is a monument to Jean Paul F. Richter, who died here. Pop. 34,547.
Baius, or De Bay, Michael, Catholic theologian, was born 1513, in Hainaut, educated at Louvain, made professor of theology there in 1552, and chosen a member of the Council of Trent in 1563. Leaving the scholastic method, he founded systematic theology directly upon the Bible and the Christian fathers, of whom he particularly followed St. Augustine. His doctrines of original sin and of salvation by grace led to his persecution as a heretic by the old Scotists, and the Jesuits, who succeeded in obtaining a Papal bull in 1567, condemning the doctrines imputed to him. Baius, however, remained in the possession of his dignities, was appointed in 1575 Chancellor of Louvain University; and the King of Spain even conferred upon him the office of Inquisitor-General in the Netherlands. He died in 1589. His Augustinian views descended to the Jansenists, while his doctrine of pure undivided love to God formed the staple of Quietism. His system is called Baianism.
Baize, a sort of coarse woollen fabric with a rough nap, now generally used for linings, and mostly green or red in colour.
Baja (bä´ya˙), a market town of Hungary, district of Bacs, on the Danube, with a trade in grain and wine, and a large annual hog fair. Pop. 20,361.
Bajaderes. See Bayaderes.