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Buena Vista, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Buena Vista, battle of, military engagement in the Mexican War, fought Feb. 22–23, 1847. The battle site was just S of Saltillo, Coahuila, in Mexico. Gen. Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the ...

buffalo grass

(Encyclopedia)buffalo grass, low perennial grass (Buchloe dactyloides) of the plains regions, one of the most important range grasses. Its dense matted growth is valuable also in erosion control. Buffalo grass usua...

Brannan, Charles Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Brannan, Charles Franklin, 1903–92, U.S. government official, b. Denver, LL.B. Univ. of Denver, 1929. He became a specialist in agriculture and mining law. In the Dept. of Agriculture after 1935, Br...

Sumba

(Encyclopedia)Sumba or Soemba both: so͞omˈbä [key], island (1990 pop. 444,777), 4,305 sq mi (11,150 sq km), Indonesia, one of the Lesser Sundas, in the Indian Ocean, S of Flores across Sumba Strait. The chief to...

Bentivoglio

(Encyclopedia)Bentivoglio bānˈtēvōˈlyō [key], Italian noble family, one of several powerful clans in the struggle for control of Bologna during most of the 15th cent. Its greatest member was Giovanni II, who ...

Vare, William Scott

(Encyclopedia)Vare, William Scott, 1867–1934, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. He engaged in machine politics and became (1898) a member of the select council of Philadelphia. He was recorder of deeds ...

Watauga

(Encyclopedia)Watauga wŏtôˈgə [key], river, 60 mi (97 km) long, rising in the Blue Ridge Mts., NW N.C., and flowing NW to the south fork of the Holston River near Kingsport, Tenn. Watauga Dam (completed 1949), ...

Waves

(Encyclopedia)Waves (Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service), U.S. navy organization, created (1942) in World War II to release male naval personnel for sea duty. The organization was commanded until 1946 ...

Tombalbaye, Ngarta

(Encyclopedia)Tombalbaye, Ngarta ən-gärˈtä tŏmbəlbäˈyā [key], 1918—75, president of Chad (1960–75). Born François Tombalbaye, he Africanized his given name in 1973. A businessman and school official, ...

Béchar

(Encyclopedia)Béchar kôlôNˈ– [key], town, capital of Béchar prov., W Algeria. It is an important adm...