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Mobile Bay

(Encyclopedia)Mobile Bay, arm of the Gulf of Mexico, SW Ala., from 8 to 18 mi (12.9–29 km) wide, extending c.35 mi (56 km) from the Gulf to the mouth of the Mobile River. A ship channel connects Mobile Bay with t...

Leuctra

(Encyclopedia)Leuctra lo͞okˈtrə [key], village of ancient Greece, in Boeotia, 7 mi (11.3 km) SW of Thebes. There the Spartans were defeated (371 b.c.) by the Thebans under Epaminondas. A brilliant tactical succe...

Magenta, town, Italy

(Encyclopedia)Magenta mäjānˈtä [key], town (1991 pop. 23,667), Lombardy, N Italy, near Milan. Manufactures include matches, textiles, and machinery. At the Ticino River nearby, the French and the Sardinians won...

Marengo

(Encyclopedia)Marengo märĕngˈgō [key], village, Piedmont, NW Italy, near Alessandria. It was the site of a famous battle (June 14, 1800) between the French under Napoleon Bonaparte and the Austrians under Melas...

Marston Moor

(Encyclopedia)Marston Moor, battlefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, N England, near York. The battle fought there on July 2, 1644, between the royalists, under Prince Rupert and the duke of Newcastle, and the parlia...

Massachusetts Bay

(Encyclopedia)Massachusetts Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay, with its arms (Boston, Cape Cod, and Plymouth bays), extends 65 mi (105 km) from Cape Ann on the north to Cape Cod on the south. Its coastline ...

Arbela

(Encyclopedia)Arbela ärbēˈlə [key], town of ancient Assyria. Its name is sometimes given to the battle fought at Gaugamela, some 60 mi (100 km) away, in which Alexander the Great defeated (331 b.c.) Darius III....

Balmerino, Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Balmerino, Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Baron ĕlˈfĭnstən, bălˌmĕrˈĭnō [key], 1688–1746, Scottish nobleman. He resigned a command in the English army to join the Jacobite rising of 1715, escapin...

Taillefer

(Encyclopedia)Taillefer tīəfĕrˈ [key], fl. 1066, Norman warrior and trouvère. According to medieval chronicles and evidence in the Bayeux Tapestry, he led the Norman army at Hastings into battle, singing of Ro...

Pheidippides

(Encyclopedia)Pheidippides fīdĭpˈĭdēz [key], fl. 490 b.c., semilegendary Athenian courier sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon. He ran 150 miles in two days. At the conclusion of...