Alaska, Settlement patterns

A large percentage of Alaskans live in the southern interior basins around Anchorage; most of the remainder live in the interior plains around Fairbanks or in the panhandle region, where Juneau is the major city and the administrative centre of the state. Tiny pockets of people are scattered in small villages, the most sparsely occupied being the Arctic plains,

Manaus

City and river port, capital of Amazonas estado (“state”), northwestern Brazil. It lies along the north bank of the Negro River, 11 miles (18 km) above that river's influx into the Amazon River. Manaus is situated in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, 900 miles (1,450 km) inland from the Atlantic coast. The city, on a terrace overlooking the river, is traversed by several side channels called

Marie-antoinette

The 11th daughter of the Holy Roman emperor Francis I and Maria Theresa, Marie-Antoinette was married in 1770 to the dauphin Louis, grandson of

Locke, Matthew

By 1661 Locke had been appointed composer in ordinary to the king. After his conversion to Roman Catholicism he was appointed organist to the queen. With Christopher Gibbons he wrote the music for James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death (1653), possibly the most elaborate

Fruit

In its strict botanical sense, the fleshy or dry ripened ovary of a plant, enclosing the seed or seeds. Thus, apricots, bananas, and grapes, as well as bean pods, corn grains, tomatoes, cucumbers, and (in their shells) acorns and almonds, are all technically fruits. Popularly, however, the term is restricted to the ripened ovaries that are sweet and either succulent or pulpy. The

Arwad, Jazirat

Greek  Arados , Phoenician  Arvad  island in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coastal town of Tartus. Originally settled by the Phoenicians in the early 2nd millennium BC, it formed an excellent base for their commercial operations, into both the Orontes Valley and the hinterland as far as the Euphrates, and also to Egypt. Arwadian soldiers fought against the Egyptians at the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1299 BC). From

Fruit

Any of a number of contagious diseases that are most commonly acquired in sexual intercourse. See sexually transmitted disease.

Lindsay, Vachel

After three years at Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, Lindsay left in 1900 to study art in Chicago and New York City. He supported himself in part by lecturing

Nicobar Islands

Island group, Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India. The islands lie in the Bay of Bengal and have a land area of 711 square miles (1,841 square km). With the nearby Andaman Islands, they constitute a union territory of India (see Andaman and Nicobar Islands). The Nicobar group includes the islands of Car Nicobar (north), Camorta (Kamorta) and Nancowry (central group), and

World War I, Serbia and the Salonika expedition, 1915–17

Austria's three attempted invasions of Serbia in 1914 had been brusquely repulsed by Serbian counterattacks. By the summer of 1915 the Central Powers were doubly concerned to close the account with Serbia, both for reasons of prestige and for the sake of establishing secure rail communications with Turkey across the Balkans. In August, Germany sent reinforcements to Austria's

Armstrong, Henry Edward

Armstrong studied at the Royal College of Chemistry, where he developed a method of determining organic impurities (sewage) in drinking water, which was used in the sanitary