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Magdala, village, Ethiopia

(Encyclopedia)Magdala ämˈbə märˈēəm [key], village, Amhara region, central Ethiopia. Emperor Tewodros II (Theodore II) in the mid-19th cent. used Magdala as the base of operations for his conquest of the sur...

Russian American Company

(Encyclopedia)Russian American Company, colonial trading company, chartered by Czar Paul I in 1799. The charter granted the merchant-dominated company monopoly trading privileges in Russian America, which included ...

Riel, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Riel, Louis lwē rēĕlˈ [key], 1844–85, Canadian insurgent, leader of two rebellions, b. Manitoba, of French and Métis parentage. In 1869–70 he led the rebels of the Red River settlements, main...

Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, barão do

(Encyclopedia)Rio Branco, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, barão do zho͝ozĕˈ mərēˈə də sēlˈvə pəräˈnyo͝os bərouNˈ do͝o rēˈo͝o brängˈko͝o [key], 1845–1912, Brazilian statesman and diplomat. ...

Constantine IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Constantine IV, c.652–685, Byzantine emperor (668–85), son and successor of Constans II. He defended Constantinople against the annual naval attacks of the Muslims, who finally withdrew in 678; Gr...

Chisholm Trail

(Encyclopedia)Chisholm Trail, route over which vast herds of cattle were driven from Texas to the railheads in Kansas after the Civil War. Its name is generally believed to come from Jesse Chisholm, a part-Cherokee...

Djibouti, city, Republic of Djibouti

(Encyclopedia)Djibouti jēbo͞otēˈ [key], town (1995 est. pop. 383,000), capital of the Republic of Djibouti, a port on the Gulf of Tadjoura (an inlet of the Gulf of Aden). It is the nation's only sizable town an...

Enver Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Enver Pasha ĕnvĕrˈ päshäˈ [key], 1881–1922, Turkish general and political leader. He took a prominent part in the Young Turk revolution of 1908, which reestablished the liberal constitution of...

United Arab Republic

(Encyclopedia)United Arab Republic, political union (1958–61) of Egypt and Syria. The capital was Cairo. The two countries were merged (1958) into a single unit comprising the Southern (Egypt) and the Northern (S...

Poston, Charles Debrill

(Encyclopedia)Poston, Charles Debrill pōsˈtən [key], 1825–1902, American explorer and author, b. Hardin co., Ky. After practicing law in Tennessee, he moved to California in 1850 and from there led a party to ...