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Sumter, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sumter, Thomas, 1734–1832, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Charlottesville, Va. He served with Edward Braddock (1755) and John Forbes (1758) in their expeditions against Fort Duquesne in the...

Santos

(Encyclopedia)Santos sänˈto͞os [key], city (1996 pop. 412,288), São Paulo state, SE Brazil, on the island of São Vicente in the Atlantic just off the mainland. It is 40 mi (64 km) SE of the city of São Paulo,...

Pylos

(Encyclopedia)Pylos pīˈlŏs [key], ancient harbor, Messenia, SW Greece, on a bay of the Ionian Sea. Excavations have revealed a great Mycenaean palace of the 13th cent. b.c., perhaps the dwelling of King Nestor. ...

Port Vila

(Encyclopedia)Port Vila pôr vēläˈ [key] or Vila, town (2009 pop. 45,694), capital and largest town of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. On the SW coast of Efate island, it is a deep-sea port built around a ...

pier

(Encyclopedia)pier, in engineering, term applied to a mass of reinforced concrete or masonry supporting a large structure, such as a bridge. When piers are built on ground of poor bearing value, it is often necessa...

Fort Sumter

(Encyclopedia)Fort Sumter, fortification, built 1829–60, on a shoal at the entrance to the harbor of Charleston, S.C., and named for Gen. Thomas Sumter; scene of the opening engagement of the Civil War. Upon pass...

Sevastopol

(Encyclopedia)Sevastopol sĭvăsˈtəpōlˌ [key], formerly spelled Sebastopol, city (1989 pop. 355,000), on the Crimean peninsula and the Bay of Sevastopol, an inlet of the Black Sea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (th...

Hampton Roads

(Encyclopedia)Hampton Roads, roadstead, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 40 ft (12.2 m) deep, SE Va., through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. One of the finest natural...

Ancona

(Encyclopedia)Ancona ängkôˈnä [key], city, capital of Ancona prov., chief city of Marche region, central Italy, on a promontory in the Adriatic Sea. It is a leading Adriatic naval a...

Fort-de-France

(Encyclopedia)Fort-de-France fôr-də-fräNs [key], city, capital of the French overseas dept. of Martinique, West Indies. It is a ...