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Pike, Zebulon Montgomery

(Encyclopedia)Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779–1813, American explorer, an army officer, b. Lamberton (now part of Trenton), N.J. He joined the army (c.1793) and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1799. In 1805 ...

Dred Scott Case

(Encyclopedia)Dred Scott Case, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1856–57. It involved the then bitterly contested issue of the status of slavery in the federal territories. In 1834, Dred Scott, a black slav...

Islamic State

(Encyclopedia)Islamic State (IS), Sunni Islamic militant group committed to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that would unite Muslims in a transnational, strict-fundamentalist Islamic state. IS has been ma...

Harrison, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, William Henry, 1773–1841, 9th President of the United States (Mar. 4–Apr. 4, 1841), b. “Berkeley,” Charles City co., Va.; son of Benjamin Harrison (1726?–1791) and grandfather of B...

Macapá

(Encyclopedia)Macapá məkəpäˈ [key], city (1996 pop. 214,197), capital of Amapá state, extreme N Brazil, on the Amazon River. Mining is central to its economy. It exports tin iron, gold, and manganese, as well...

Mesilla

(Encyclopedia)Mesilla māsēˈyä [key], town (1990 pop. 1,975), SW N.Mex., on the Rio Grande and near Las Cruces; settled c.1850. The whole Mesilla Valley became part of the United States under the Gadsden Purchas...

Midlothian

(Encyclopedia)Midlothian mĭdlōˈthēən [key], council area (1993 est. pop. 79,910), 137 sq mi (356 sq km), and former county, SE Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, Midlothian was divided between t...

Narva, river, Estonia and Russia

(Encyclopedia)Narva, river, c.50 mi (80 km) long, rising in Lake Peipus (Chudskoye), E Estonia, and flowing northeast past the city of Narva into the Gulf of Finland. It forms the border between Estonia and Russia....

Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area

(Encyclopedia)Komi-Permyak Autonomous Area kôˈmē-pĭrmyäkˈ [key], former administrative division, 12,664 sq mi (32,800 sq km), E central European Russia, in the basin of the upper Kama River. The capital was K...

Ilemi Triangle

(Encyclopedia)Ilemi Triangle, triangular-shaped region, c.10,000 sq km (3,860 sq mi) in area, at the NW corner of Lake Turkana, E Africa. It borders South Sudan (W), Ethiopia (E) and Kenya (S). A disputed territory...