Magdalena

Also called  Magdalena Contreras, or Contreras,   delegación (district), west-central Federal District, central Mexico. It lies along the Magdalena River near Cerro Ajusco. Although once simply the commercial centre for the cereals, beans, fruits, and livestock produced in the surrounding area, Magdalena gained prominence as the site of a battle (Aug. 19–20, 1847) in the Mexican War (1846–48) that enabled the U.S. general Winfield Scott to

Campaign Furniture

Case furniture was usually teak,

Culpeper's Rebellion

(1677–79), early popular uprising against proprietary rule in the Albemarle section of northern Carolina, caused by the efforts of the proprietary government to enforce the British Navigation acts. These trade laws denied the colonists a free market outside England and placed heavy duties on commodities. The colonists' resentment found an object in the deputy governor,

Syriac Alphabet

Writing system used by the Syriac Christians from the 1st century AD until about the 14th century. A Semitic alphabet, Syriac was an offshoot of a cursive Aramaic script. It had 22 letters, all representing consonants, and was generally written from right to left, although occasionally vertically downward. Diacritical marks to represent vowels were introduced in the 8th

Insurance, Business liability insurance

Business liability contracts commonly written include the following: liability of a building owner, landlord, or tenant; liability of an employer for acts of negligence involving employees; liability of contractors or manufacturers; liability to members of the public resulting from faulty products or services; liability as a result of contractual agreements

Burundi, Climate

Altitude is a major factor in Burundi's climate, greatly moderating its tropical character. The country's high average elevation produces relatively cool temperatures, which average only about 70 °F (21 °C) throughout the year in the central plateau area and usually drop to below 60 °F (15 °C) at night. At lower elevations the annual average is only slightly higher—for example, at Bujumbura

Augustine, Saint

In many ways no less unusual a book than his Confessions, the Retractationes (426–427; Reconsiderations), written in the last years of his life, offers a retrospective rereading of Augustine's career. In form, the book is a catalog of his writings with comments on the circumstances of their composition and with the retractions or rectifications he would make in hindsight. (One

Albany

City, capital (1797) of the state of New York, U.S., and seat (1683) of Albany county. It lies along the Hudson River, 143 miles (230 km) north of New York City. The heart of a metropolitan area that includes Troy and Schenectady, it is a port city, the northern terminus of the deepwater Hudson River Channel, and a natural transshipment point between oceangoing vessels and the New York State Canal

Scandinavian Literature, The mythological lays

Mythological lays about the Norse gods made up the first half of the Poetic Edda. It is unlikely that any of these originated outside Norway, Iceland, and Norse colonies in the British Isles. The Völuspá (“Sibyl's Prophecy”) was a striking poem on the history of the world of gods, men, and monsters, from the beginning until the “twilight of the gods.” Many passages in the poem are

Marey, étienne-jules

Marey wrote extensively on the circulation of the blood, cholera, terrestrial and aerial locomotion, experimental physiology,

World War I, German strategy and the submarine war, 1916–January 1917

Both Admiral Scheer and General Falkenhayn doubted whether the German submarines could do any decisive damage to Great Britain so long as their warfare was restricted in deference to the protests of the United States; and, after a tentative reopening of the submarine campaign on Feb. 4, 1916, the German naval authorities in March gave the U-boats permission to sink without

Hookworm Disease

Also called  ancylostomiasis , or  uncinariasis  a parasitic infestation of humans, dogs, or cats caused by bloodsucking worms (see photograph) living in the small intestine—sometimes associated with secondary anemia. Several species of hookworm can cause the disease. Necator americanus, which ranges in size from 5 to 11 millimetres (0.2 to 0.4 inch), is responsible for about 90 percent of human hookworm infections

Ankaratra

Volcanic mountainous region in central Madagascar (Malagasy), covering an area of approximately 2,000 square miles (5,200 square km) and rising to 8,671 feet (2,643 m) in Mount Tsiafajavona, the nation's second highest peak. The main range runs south-southwest from the town of Antananarivo. Antsirabe (q.v.), situated on the slopes of Mount Tsiafajavona, is the principal town in the region.

Metallic Wood-boring Beetle

Also called  Jewel Beetle,   any member of the family Buprestidae (order Coleoptera), among the most brilliantly coloured insects. Most of the approximately 15,000 species are widely distributed in tropical regions. These beetles are long, narrow, and flat, with a tapering abdomen. The wing covers (elytra) of some species are metallic blue, copper green, or black in colour and are sometimes used in jewelry.

Fréchette, Louis-honoré

Fréchette studied law at Laval University, Quebec, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. Discharged as a journalist for liberal views, he went to Chicago (1866–71). There, he wrote La Voix d'un exilé (1866–68; “The Voice of an Exile”), a poem attacking the political and clerical dealings in Quebec

Fiske, Bradley Allen

Fiske graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1874. As the navigator of the gunboat Petrel, he used one of his inventions, a stadimeter range finder, to communicate the ranges of enemy ships to American gunners

Shah

Old Persian  Khshayathiya,   title of the kings of Iran, or Persia. When compounded as shahanshah, it denotes “king of kings,” or emperor, a title adopted by the 20th-century Pahlavi dynasty in evocation of the ancient Persian “king of kings,” Cyrus II the Great (reigned 559–c. 529 BC). Another related title or form of address is padshah, or “lord king.” The title shah was also used in Afghanistan until the overturn of the monarchy