Young, Lester (Willis) (b. Aug. 27, 1909, Woodville, Miss., U.S.—d. March 15, 1959, New York, N.Y.) U.S. tenor saxophonist. Young joined
, Whitingham, Vt., U.S.—d. Aug.
Brigham Young
COURTESY OF UTAH STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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Young ► youth hostel I 2099
Count Basie’s band in 1936 and was recognized as a major new stylist on the instrument. His small-group recordings from the late 1930s with Basie and vocalist Billie Holiday are classics. He was nicknamed Prez by Holiday (short for “President of the saxophone”). Young’s subtle harmo¬ nies and unconventional rhythmic independence influenced both bebop and cool-jazz musicians; his gentle tone and ethereal lyricism inspired an entire school of jazz saxophone playing.
Young, Neil (b. Nov. 12, 1945,
Toronto, Ont., Can.) Canadian rock singer and songwriter. He began his career as a folksinger in Winnipeg and later moved to Los Angeles, Calif., U.S., where he formed the rock group Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills. In 1968 he released a solo album; in 1969 he joined Stills, David Crosby, and Graham Nash, to form Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. His high-pitched, nasal vocals were instantly recognizable in any band. With a new band, Crazy Horse, he had great success with albums such as Harvest (1972) and Comes a Time (1978). In the 1980s he experimented with rockabilly and electronic music.
Young, Thomas (b. June 13, 1773, Milverton, Somerset, Eng.—d. May 10, 1829, London) English physicist. Trained as a physician, he practiced medicine at St. George’s Hospital (from 1811 until his death) but spent much of his time on scientific research. He was the first to describe and measure astigmatism (1800-01) and the first to explain colour sensation in terms of retinal structures corresponding to red, green, and violet (1801). He established the principle of interference of light, thus resurrecting the century-old wave theory of light (1801). He explained capillarity independently of Pierre-Simon Laplace. Investigating elasticity, he proposed Young’s modulus, a numerical constant that describes the elastic properties of a solid undergoing tension or compression. His other work included measuring the size of molecules and surface tension in liq¬ uids. With J.-F. Champollion, he helped decipher the inscriptions on the Rosetta Stone (1813-14).
Young Algerians Algerian nationalist group. Formed shortly before World War I (1914-18), they were a loosely organized group of French- educated workers in the modernized French sector. The Young Algerians were “assimilationists,” willing to consider permanent union with France on the condition that native Algerians be given the full rights of French citizens. In the years following the war, such gradualist reformers found themselves opposed by radical nationalists demanding complete indepen¬ dence. See also Ferhat Abbas; Association of Algerian Reformist ‘Ulama’; National Liberation Front.
Young America movement U.S. political concept popular in the 1840s. Inspired by European youth movements of the 1830s (see Young Italy), the U.S. group was formed as a political organization in 1845 by Edwin de Leon and George H. Evans. It advocated free trade, expansion southward into the territories, and support for republican movements abroad. It became a faction in the Democratic Party in the 1850s. Sen. Stephen A. Dougas promoted its nationalistic program in an unsuccessful effort to compromise sectional differences.
Young Italy Italian Giovine Italia Movement founded by Giuseppe Mazzini in 1831 to work for a united, republican Italian nation. In contrast to earlier independence movements of the Carbonari, Young Italy was to be based on support from the Italian people, who would be educated in their political role. To propagate his ideas, Mazzini published the journal Giovine Italia (1832-34). The movement spread in northern Italy and by 1833 included more than 50,000 members. It staged revolts in the 1830s and ’40s, but it failed to win popular support for insurrection. In 1848 Mazzini replaced Young Italy with the Italian National Committee. After 1850 his influence declined as leadership of the movement for Italian uni¬ fication passed to Camillo Benso, count di Cavour. See also Risorgimento.
Young Men's Christian Association See YMCA
Young Plan (1929) Renegotiation of Germany’s World War I repara¬ tions payments by a committee chaired by the U.S. lawyer Owen D. Young
(1874-1962) in Paris. The Young Plan, a revision of the Dawes Pan, reduced the amount due from Germany to $26.3 billion, to be paid over 59 years, and ended foreign controls on German economic life. It went into effect in 1930, but the world depression affected Germany’s ability to pay. When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he repudiated the obli¬ gations of the Treaty of Versailles, including reparations.
Young Tunisians Political party formed in 1907 by French-educated Tunisian intellectuals to oppose French rule. They demanded complete control of the country’s government and administration and full citizen¬ ship rights for both Tunisians and Frenchmen. They protested the Italian invasion of Libya (1911) and rioted against French actions at home. The French exiled its leaders, driving the party underground until 1920, when it reemerged and reorganized itself as the Destour Party, which remained active until 1957. See also Habib Bourguiba.
Young Turks Turkish Jonturkler Coalition of young dissidents who ended the sultanate of the Ottoman Empire. Consisting of college students and dissident soldiers, the group succeeded in 1908 in forcing AbdOlha- mid II to reinstitute the 1876 constitution and recall the legislature. They deposed him the following year, reorganized the government, and began modernizing and industrializing Turkish society. They joined the Central Powers during World War I (1914-18). Facing defeat, they resigned a month before the war ended. See also Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; Enver Pasha; Midhat Pasha.
Younghusband, Sir Francis Edward (b. May 31, 1863, Murree, India—d. July 31, 1942, Lytchett Minster, Dorset, England) British army officer and explorer. He forced the conclusion of the Anglo-Tibetan Treaty (1904) that gained Britain long-sought trade concessions. His two initial attempts to negotiate trade and frontier issues with Tibet failed despite British military action; he then marched to Lhasa with British troops and forced the conclusion of a trade treaty, though the Daai Lama, Tibet’s leader, had fled. See also amban.
Youngstown City (pop., 2000: 82,026), northeastern Ohio, U.S. Located on the Mahoning River, near the Pennsylvania border, it was founded in 1797. Ohio’s first furnace to produce iron was built nearby in 1805. In 1855 the Sault Sainte Marie locks were opened, making the rich iron ores from the upper Great Lakes region available; railroad lines were later built to transport ores and coal to Youngstown. By 1920 it had become one of the largest steel-producing centres in the U.S. Its products now include aluminum, rubber, and paper products. Youngstown State University was established in 1908.
Yourcenar \yur-s9-'nar. Marguerite orig. Marguerite de Crayencour (b. June 8, 1903,
Brussels, Belg.—d. Dec. 17, 1987,
Northeast Harbor, Maine, U.S.)
Belgian-born French-U.S. novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Inde¬ pendently wealthy after her father’s death, she led a nomadic life until World War II, when she settled in the U.S. with the American woman who would be her lifelong companion and translator. Her works are noted for their rigorously classical style, their erudition, and their psychologi¬ cal subtlety. Her masterpiece is Memoirs of Hadrian (1951), a his¬ torical novel of the 2nd-century Roman Empire. Other works include the novels Coup de grace (1939) and The Abyss (1968), Oriental Tales (1938), and the prose poem “Fires”