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Palmares

(Encyclopedia)Palmares or Quilombo dos Palmares, former autonomous community of villages comprised of fugitive African slaves and indigenous peoples, present-day Pernambuco and Alagoas states, NE Brazil. Its capita...

Fillmore, Millard

(Encyclopedia)Fillmore, Millard, 1800–1874, 13th President of the United States (July, 1850–Mar., 1853), b. Locke (now Summer Hill), N.Y. Because he was compelled to work at odd jobs at an early age to earn a l...

Maximin, d. 313, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Maximin (Galerius Valerius Maximinus), d. 313, Roman emperor (308–13); kinsman of Galerius. He is called Maximin Daia. He was made caesar in 305 and in 308 proclaimed himself augustus in opposition ...

sanctuary

(Encyclopedia)sanctuary, sacred place, especially the most sacred part of a sacred place. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, a sanctuary served as asylum, a place of refuge for persons fleeing from violence o...

Nau, Jacques Jean David

(Encyclopedia)Nau, Jacques Jean David zhäk zhäN dävēdˈ nō [key], c.1630–1671, French pirate in the West Indies. He is also called François L'Olonnois. He went to the West Indies in 1650. Expelled in 1653 f...

Delano, Amasa

(Encyclopedia)Delano, Amasa ămˈəsə dĕlˈənō [key], 1763–1823, American sea captain, b. Duxbury, Mass. At 15, he served as a soldier in the American Revolution and later as a privateersman. His experiences ...

Natchez, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Natchez, city (1990 pop. 19,460), seat of Adams co., SW Miss., on bluffs above the Mississippi River; settled 1716, inc. 1803. It is the trade, shipping, and processing center for a soybean, corn, cot...

Bahr-el-Ghazal

(Encyclopedia)Bahr-el-Ghazal bär-ĕl-gäzälˈ [key], region, NW South Sudan, divided into Western Bahr-el-Ghazal, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal, Warrab, and Lakes states. The region takes its name from a river that flo...

peonage

(Encyclopedia)peonage pēˈənĭj [key], system of involuntary servitude based on the indebtedness of the laborer (the peon) to his creditor. It was prevalent in Spanish America, especially in Mexico, Guatemala, Ec...

Athabasca, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Athabasca, Lake, fourth largest lake of Canada, c.3,120 sq mi (8,100 sq km), c.200 mi (320 km) long and from 5 to 35 mi (8–56 km) wide, NE Alta., and SW Sask., at the edge of the Canadian Shield. A ...