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Napier, Robert Cornelis, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala

(Encyclopedia)Napier, Robert Cornelis, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1810–90, British general. In the engineering service in India, he fought in the Sikh Wars (1845–49) and took part i...

Phuket

(Encyclopedia)Phuket po͞oˈkĭt [key], island, 206 sq mi (534 sq km), a province of Thailand, in the Andaman Sea, off the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. The town of Phuket is the capital. Flat, with isolated h...

Bouquet, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Bouquet, Henry bo͞okāˈ [key], 1719–65, British army officer in the French and Indian Wars. A French Swiss, he came to America in 1756 and distinguished himself as second in command to Gen. John F...

Bradstreet, John

(Encyclopedia)Bradstreet, John, c.1711–1774, British officer in the French and Indian Wars. A Nova Scotian, he was captured (1744) by the French and confined at Louisburg. After his exchange he described the weak...

Aśoka

(Encyclopedia)Aśoka əshōˈkə, –sōˈk– [key] or Ashoka, d. c.232 b.c., Indian emperor (c.273–c.232 b.c.) of the Maurya dynasty; grandson of Chandragupta. One of the greatest rulers of ancient India, he br...

Fort Duquesne

(Encyclopedia)Fort Duquesne dəkānˈ, do͞o– [key], at the junction of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers, on the site of Pittsburgh, SW Pa. Because of its strategic location, it was a major objective in the l...

Fort Necessity

(Encyclopedia)Fort Necessity, entrenched camp built in July, 1754, by George Washington and his Virginia militia at Great Meadows (near the present Uniontown, Pa.). He retired there when he learned that the British...

Erie, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Erie ĭrˈē [key], indigenous people of North America of the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the Iroquoian language the word erie means “lo...

Langlade, Charles Michel de

(Encyclopedia)Langlade, Charles Michel de shärl mēshĕlˈ də [key], 1729–1800, pioneer in present-day Wisconsin and soldier, b. Mackinac region, now in Mich.; son of a trader, Augustin Langlade, who establishe...

Pontiac, Ottawa chief

(Encyclopedia)Pontiac, fl. 1760–66, Ottawa chief. He may have been the chief met by Robert Rogers in 1760 when Rogers was on his way to take possession of the Western forts for the English. Although the Native Am...