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Missouri Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Missouri Compromise, 1820–21, measures passed by the U.S. Congress to end the first of a series of crises concerning the extension of slavery. By 1818, Missouri Territory had gained sufficient popul...

mercury, chemical element

(Encyclopedia)mercury or quicksilver [from the Roman god Mercury], metallic chemical element; symbol Hg [Lat. hydrargyrum=liquid silver]; at. no. 80; at. wt. 200.59; m.p. −38.842℃; b.p. 356.58℃; sp. gr. 13.55...

platinum

(Encyclopedia)platinum plătˈənəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Pt; at. no. 78; at. wt. 195.084; m.p. 1,772℃; b.p. 3,827±100℃; sp. gr. 21.45 at 20℃; valence +2 or +4. Pure platinum is a malleab...

Altona

(Encyclopedia)Altona älˈtōnä [key], part of Hamburg, N Germany, a port on the Elbe River. Its manufactures include chemicals, textiles, and tobacco products. There are fisheries, and the district is a rail cent...

Paardeberg

(Encyclopedia)Paardeberg pärˈdəbərg, –bĕrk [key], historic location, Free State prov., South Africa. In Feb., 1900, during the South African War, Gen. Piet Cronje and his Boer (Afrikaner) troops were forced ...

Laforgue, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Laforgue, Jules zhül läfôrgˈ [key], 1860–87, French symbolist poet. He was one of the first French poets to write in free verse. The revolutionary form of Les Complaintes (1885) and Derniers Ver...

Volterra

(Encyclopedia)Volterra, town (1991 pop. 12,879), Tuscany, central Italy. A powerful Etruscan town, it later (12th–13th cent.) was a free commune and passed to Florence in the 14th cent. Of note are well-preserved...

Vadsø

(Encyclopedia)Vadsø vädˈsö [key], town (1995 pop. 6,410), capital of Finnmark co., NE Norway, an ice-free arctic port on the Varangerfjord. It is a fishing and fish-processing center and a trade center for rein...

Bastiat, Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Bastiat, Frédéric frādārēkˈ bästyäˈ [key], 1801–50, French economist. In his Harmonies of Political Economy (1850, tr. 1860) he developed the classical theories of economic individualism an...

Thayer, Eli

(Encyclopedia)Thayer, Eli, 1819–99, American abolitionist, b. Medon, Mass. He was a Free-Soiler in the Massachusetts legislature (1853–54), organized the New England Emigrant Aid Company for sending antislavery...