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Kosovo Field

(Encyclopedia)Kosovo Field kôˈsôvô [key], Serbian Kosovo Polje [field of the black birds], WSW of Priština, Kosovo, site of a battle in which the Turks under Sultan Murad I defeated Serbia and its Bosnian, Mon...

Perry, Oliver Hazard

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Oliver Hazard, 1785–1819, American naval officer, b. South Kingstown, R.I.; brother of Matthew Calbraith Perry. Appointed a midshipman in 1799, he served in the Tripolitan War, was promoted t...

Solferino

(Encyclopedia)Solferino sōlfārēˈnō [key], village, Lombardy, N Italy, near Mantua. There, on June 24, 1859, the French and Sardinians fought a bloody battle with the Austrians (see Risorgimento). Although the ...

Hastings, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Hastings, city and district, East Sussex, SE England. A resort and residential city, Hastings is backed by cliffs and has a 3-mi (4.8-km) marine esplana...

Winkelried, Arnold von

(Encyclopedia)Winkelried, Arnold von ärˈnôlt fən vĭngˈkəlrēt [key], d. 1386, Swiss hero. His action at the battle of Sempach (July 9, 1386) is credited in legend with the Swiss defeat of the Austrians under...

Maldon

(Encyclopedia)Maldon môlˈdən [key], town (1991 pop. 14,754) and district, Essex, E England, on the Blackwater estuary. Maldon is a market town with iron foundries and other small industries. The Maldon area has ...

Edgehill

(Encyclopedia)Edgehill or Edge Hill, ridge on the border of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, central England, NW of Banbury. A tower built in 1760 marks the scene of the first great battle of the English civil war, Oc...

Root, George Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Root, George Frederick, 1820–95, American composer, b. Sheffield, Mass. He taught at schools in Boston and New York City. He wrote gospel songs and composed sentimental ballads to Fanny Crosby's lyr...

Halleck, Henry Wager

(Encyclopedia)Halleck, Henry Wager, 1815–72, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Oneida co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1839. He entered the Corps of Engineers and became an expert on fortifications; his Ele...

Auster, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Auster, Paul ôˈstər [key], 1947–, American writer, b. Newark, N.J. After publishing four volumes of poetry, he wrote his first novel, Squeeze Play (1982). A compelling storyteller, Auster became ...