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fugitive slave laws

(Encyclopedia)fugitive slave laws, in U.S. history, the federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves. Similar laws existing in both North and South in colonial days ...

Alfonso III, Spanish king of Asturias

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso III (Alfonso the Great), 838?–911?, Spanish king of Asturias (866–911?). He recovered the territory of León from the Moors. The kingdom was consolidated in his reign, but after his forced...

Prince of Wales Island, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Prince of Wales Island, c.12,800 sq mi (33,150 sq km), Nunavut Territory, Canada, between Victoria and Somerset islands. The low tundra-covered island has an irregular coastline and is deeply indented...

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...

Hohenzollern, former province, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Hohenzollern, former province of Germany. After 1945 it became part of the temporary state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, which was included in the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. Its chief city w...

internment

(Encyclopedia)internment, in international law, detention of the nationals or property of an enemy or a belligerent. A belligerent will intern enemy merchant ships or take them as prize, and a neutral should intern...

Watie, Stand

(Encyclopedia)Watie, Stand wätˈē [key], 1806–71, Native American leader and Confederate general, b. near Rome, Ga., as Degataga Oowatie. Of mixed white and Cherokee descent, he favored moving in the face of wh...

Pangnirtung

(Encyclopedia)Pangnirtung păngˌnərtŭngˈ [key], trading post, E Baffin Island, Nunavut Territory, Canada. It is a post of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a center for Inuit artworks. ...

Balewa, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa

(Encyclopedia)Balewa, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa älhäˈjē äbo͞oˈbäkärˌ täfäˈwä bälāˈwä [key], 1912–66, Nigerian political leader. He was born Mallam Abubakar. After studying to become a teacher, ...

Williams, Betty

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Betty, 1943–2020, Northern Irish peace activist, b. Belfast as Elizabeth Smyth. In Aug., 1976, Williams, a receptionist, witnessed the death of three children when a car driven by an Irish...