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Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de

(Encyclopedia)Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de fränthēsˈkō väsˈkāth dā kōrōnäˈᵺō [key], c.1510–1554, Spanish explorer. He went to Mexico with Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and in 1538 was made governor...

Juárez, Benito

(Encyclopedia)Juárez, Benito bānēˈtō hwäˈrās [key], 1806–72, Mexican liberal statesman and national hero. Revered by Mexicans as one of their greatest political figures, Juárez, with great moral courage ...

cuneiform

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Examples of the development of cuneiform cuneiform kyo͞onēˈĭfôrm [key] [Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium b.c. in the lower ...

puppet

(Encyclopedia)puppet, human or animal figure, generally of a small size and performing on a miniature stage, manipulated by an unseen operator who usually speaks the dialogue. A distinction is made between marionet...

Pétain, Henri Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Pétain, Henri Philippe äNrēˈ fēlēpˈ pātăNˈ [key], 1856–1951, French army officer, head of state of the Vichy government (see under Vichy). In World War I he halted the Germans at Verdun (1...

Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez

(Encyclopedia)Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez älˈvär no͞oˈnyāth käbāˈthä dā väˈkä [key], c.1490–c.1557, Spanish explorer. Cabeza de Vaca [cow's head] was not actually a surname but a hereditary title...

Andes

(Encyclopedia)Andes ănˈdēz [key], mountain system, more than 5,000 mi (8,000 km) long, W South America. The ranges run generally parallel to the Pacific coast and extend from Tierra del Fuego northward, across t...

Djibouti, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Djibouti jēbo͞otēˈ [key], officially Republic of Djibouti, republic (2015 est. pop. 828,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,057 sq km), E Africa, on the Gulf of Aden. It is bounded by Eritrea (N), Ethi...

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 ...

Hittites

(Encyclopedia)Hittites hĭtˈīts [key], ancient people of Asia Minor and Syria, who flourished from 1600 to 1200 b.c. The Hittites, a people of Indo-European connection, were supposed to have entered Cappadocia c....