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black humor

(Encyclopedia)black humor, in literature, drama, and film, grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world. Ordinary characters or situations are usu...

Black Isle

(Encyclopedia)Black Isle, peninsula, 18 mi (29 km) long and up to 9 mi (14.5 km) wide, Highland, N Scotland, extending into Moray Firth. It has some of the best farmland in N Scotland, producing grain and potatoes....

Black Kettle

(Encyclopedia)Black Kettle, d. 1868, chief of the southern Cheyenne in Colorado. His attempt to make peace (1864) with the white men ended in the massacre of about half his people at Sand Creek. Despite this treach...

black lead

(Encyclopedia)black lead: see graphite.

black letter

(Encyclopedia)black letter: see type.

black light

(Encyclopedia)black light: see ultraviolet radiation. ...

black locust

(Encyclopedia)black locust: see locust.

black lung

(Encyclopedia)black lung: see pneumoconiosis.

black market

(Encyclopedia)black market, the selling or buying of commodities at prices above the legal ceiling or beyond the amount allotted to a customer in countries that have placed restrictions on sales and prices. Such tr...

Black Monday

(Encyclopedia)Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. The Dow Jones Average fell 508.32 points, a drop of 22.6%, the largest since 1914. The point decline as well as the volume, 604.33...