(Encyclopedia) RhineRhinerīn [key], Du. Rijn, Fr. Rhin, Ger. Rhein, Lat. Rhenus, principal river of Europe, c.820 mi (1,320 km) long. It rises in the Swiss Alps and flows generally north, passing…
(Encyclopedia) Cretaceous periodCretaceous periodkrĭtāˈshəs [key], third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from…
Learn about the science behind tsunamis and earthquakes by Beth Rowen and Catherine McNiff Location of the earthquake. Source: U.S. Geological Survey Related Links Japan in 2012…
An illustrated guide to the first ladies of the United States
Please note: Martha Jefferson, Rachel Jackson, Hannah Hoes Van Buren, and Ellen Arthur all died before their husbands became president…
(Encyclopedia) Dostoyevsky or Dostoevsky, Feodor MikhailovichDostoyevsky or Dostoevsky, Feodor Mikhailovichfyôˈdər mēkhīˈləvĭch dəstəyĕfˈskē [key], 1821–81, Russian novelist, one of the towering…
(Encyclopedia) MeccaMeccamĕkˈə [key] or MakkahMakkahmăkˈə [key], city (1993 pop. 966,381), capital of the Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. The birthplace c.a.d. 570 of Muhammad the Prophet, it is the holiest…
(Encyclopedia) Monroe, James, 1758–1831, 5th President of the United States (1817–25), b. Westmoreland co., Va.
In 1816 Monroe obtained the presidential nomination and was easily elected. During…
(Encyclopedia) North Africa, campaigns in, series of military contests for control of North Africa during World War II. The desert war started in 1940 and for more than two years thereafter seesawed…
(Encyclopedia) parlementparlementpärˈləmənt, Fr. pärləmäNˈ [key], in French history, the chief judicial body under the ancien régime. The parlement consisted of a number of separate chambers: the…
(Encyclopedia) Peninsular campaign, in the American Civil War, the unsuccessful Union attempt (Apr.–July, 1862) to capture Richmond, Va., by way of the peninsula between the York and James rivers…
