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Lane, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Lane, Joseph, 1801–81, American general in the Mexican War and territorial governor of Oregon, b. Buncombe co., N.C. In the Mexican War he commanded a brigade under Gen. Zachary Taylor at Buena Vist...

Matamoros

(Encyclopedia)Matamoros, city (1990 pop. 266,055), Tamaulipas state, NE Mexico, near the mouth of the Rio Grande, opposite Brownsville, Tex. Matamoros, linked by rail and highway with the United States, is an inter...

Coleridge, Hartley

(Encyclopedia)Coleridge, Hartley kōlˈrĭj, kōˈlə– [key], 1796–1849, English author; eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Reared in the household of the poet Southey after the estrangement of his parents,...

Fort Bliss

(Encyclopedia)Fort Bliss, U.S. army post, 1,122,500 acres (454,300 hectares), W Tex., E of El Paso; est. 1849 and named for Col. William Bliss, Gen. Zachary Taylor's adjutant in the Mexican War. Originally strategi...

Johnson, Lady Bird

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Lady Bird, 1912–2007, b. Karnack, Tex., as Claudia Alta Taylor. She married (1934) Lyndon B. Johnson and played an active role in his political career. As first lady (1963–69), she was th...

Worth, William Jenkins

(Encyclopedia)Worth, William Jenkins, 1794–1849, American army officer, b. Hudson, N.Y. He served with distinction on the Niagara frontier in the War of 1812 and later became commandant of cadets and instructor o...

Davis, Jefferson

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Jefferson, 1808–89, American statesman, President of the Southern Confederacy, b. Fairview, near Elkton, Ky. His birthday was June 3. Davis took little part in the secession movement until ...

torpedo boat

(Encyclopedia)torpedo boat, small fast warship built specially for using the torpedo as a means of attack. The first modern torpedo boat was the Lightning, built for the British navy in 1877 by the shipyards of Sir...

Cruikshank, George

(Encyclopedia)Cruikshank, George kro͝okˈshăngk [key], 1792–1878, English caricaturist, illustrator, and etcher; younger son of Isaac Cruikshank (1756–1810), caricaturist. Self-taught, George early gained a r...

Fort Smith, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Fort Smith, city (2020 pop. 89,142), seat of Sebastian co., NW Ark., at the Okla. line where the Arkansas and Poteau rivers join; inc. 1842. It is the r...