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Lakshmi Bai

(Encyclopedia)Lakshmi Bai or Laxmibai, c.1828–58, maharani of Jhansi. Born into a Brahmin family of Benares (now Varanasi) and named Manakarnika, she had an unconventional childhood, receiving an education and ma...

Schomburgk, Sir Robert Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Schomburgk, Sir Robert Hermann shŏmˈbərk [key], 1804–65, English traveler and explorer, b. Germany. Under the direction of the Royal Geographical Society he went on a trip of botanical and geogra...

Sears, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Sears, Isaac, c.1730–86, American Revolutionary leader, b. West Brewster, Mass. A merchant sea captain, Sears won a reputation as a daring privateer during the French and Indian War. He was a leader...

Opium Wars

(Encyclopedia)Opium Wars, 1839–42 and 1856–60, two wars between China and Western countries that marked the shift of wealth and power from East to West. The first was between Great Britain and China. Early in t...

North Africa, campaigns in

(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 between NE Libya...

Alexandria, city, Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Alexandria, Arabic Al Iskandariyah, city, N Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is at the western extremity of the Nile River delta, situated on a narrow isthmus between the sea and Lake ...

Piggott, Lester Keith

(Encyclopedia)Piggott, Lester Keith, 1935–, British jockey. A major figure in British horse racing after 1954, Piggott rode over 4,000 winners in Britain. He gained particular success in classic British races suc...

Ch'in, dynasty of China (221–206 b.c.)

(Encyclopedia)Ch'in chĭn [key], dynasty of China, which ruled from 221 b.c. to 206 b.c. The word China is derived from Ch'in, the first dynasty to unify the country by conquering the warring feudal states of the l...

Akkad

(Encyclopedia)Akkad ăˈkăd, äˈkäd [key], ancient region of Mesopotamia, occupying the northern part of later Babylonia. The southern part was Sumer. In both regions city-states had begun to appear in the 4th m...

Honorius

(Encyclopedia)Honorius, 384–423, Roman emperor of the West (395–423). On the death (395) of Theodosius I, the Roman Empire was divided; Arcadius, the elder son, received the East, and Honorius, the younger son,...