18th-century Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., that was the site of a historic resistance effort by a small group of determined fighters for Texan independence (1836) from Mexico.
city, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. ...
city, seat (1913) of Alamosa county, southern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, on the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. ...
archipelago comprising Ahvenanmaan autonomous kunta (commune), southwestern Finland. The islands lie at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, 25 miles (40 km) east of the Swedish coast, at the ...
an ancient nomadic pastoral people that occupied the steppe region northeast of the Black Sea. The Alani were first mentioned in Roman literature in the 1st century AD and were ...
either of two amino acids, one of which (alpha-alanine) is a constituent of proteins. An especially rich source of alpha-alanine is silk fibroin, from which the amino acid was first ...
(Sanskrit: "conversation"), in the art music of India and Pakistan, improvised melody structured to reveal a raga and occurring principally in the introductory section of a performance. There the alapa ...
city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia, on the Neyva River. It is one of the oldest centres of the iron and steel industry in the Urals (an ironworks was established ...
(July 18, 1195), celebrated Almohad victory in Muslim Spain over the forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile. In 1190 the Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub forced an armistice on ...
in zoology, a ritualized means of communicating a danger or threat among the members of an animal group. In many cases the signal is visual or vocal, but some animals-ants, ...
novelist and the most influential literary critic of Spain in the late 19th century. His biting and often bellicose articles, sometimes called paliques ("chit-chat"), and his advocacy of naturalism and ...
town, western Turkey. It lies in the Kuzu River valley, at the foot of the Boz Mountain. Founded about 150 BC by a king of Pergamum, it became an important ...
constituent state of the United States of America. It lies at the extreme northwest of the North American continent and is the largest peninsula in the Western Hemisphere. Its 591,004 ...
(species Dallia pectoralis), Arctic freshwater fish, assigned by some authorities to the family Umbridae but by others to the separate family Dalliidae. The fish is about 20 cm (8 inches) ...
surface oceanic current, a branch of the West Wind Drift that forms a counterclockwise gyre in the Gulf of Alaska. In contrast to typical sub-Arctic Pacific water, Alaska Current water ...
road (1,523 miles [2,451 km] long) through the Yukon, connecting Dawson Creek, B.C., with Fairbanks, Alaska. It was previously called the Alaskan International Highway, the Alaska Military Highway, and the ...
stretch of land extending southwest from mainland Alaska, U.S. It spreads for 500 miles (800 km) between the Pacific Ocean (southeast) and Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea. ...
(1867), acquisition by the United States from Russia of 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 square km) of land at the northwestern tip of the North American continent.
segment of the Pacific mountain system that extends generally northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the Yukon boundary in ...
broad inlet of the North Pacific on the south coast of Alaska, U.S. Bounded by the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island (west) and Cape Spencer (east), it has a surface ...
system of public land-, sea-, and space-grant universities in Alaska, U.S., with campuses (regional university centres) in Fairbanks (main campus), Anchorage, and Juneau (known as the University of Alaska Southeast). ...
sled dog developed by the Malemiut, an Eskimo group from which it takes its name. The Alaskan Malamute is a strongly built dog, with a broad head, erect ears, and ...
any of certain avenging deities or spirits, especially in Greek antiquity. The term is associated with Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution who signified the gods' disapproval of human presumption. ...
town, Frosinone provincia, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies in the Cosa River valley, at 1,647 feet (502 m) above sea level, just north of Frosinone city. Said to ...
king (1752-60) who unified Myanmar (Burma) and founded the Alaungpaya, or Konbaung, dynasty, which held power until the British annexed Upper (northern) Burma on Jan. 1, 1886. He also conquered ...
the last ruling dynasty (1752-1885) of Myanmar (Burma). The dynasty's collapse in the face of British imperial might marked the end of Myanmar sovereignty for more than 60 years. (Some ...
provincia, northern Spain. Alava is the southernmost of the three Basque Country provincias of northern Spain and is located mainly on the southern slope of the Pyrenees Range. It is ...
(Sanskrit: "store of consciousness"), key concept of the Vijnanavada ("Consciousness-affirming") school of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition. Since that school maintains that no external reality exists, while retaining the position that ...
liturgical vestment worn in some services by Roman Catholic officiants, some Anglicans, and some Lutherans. A symbol of purity, it is a full-length, long-sleeved, usually white linen tunic secured at ...
in the music of the troubadours (q.v.), the 11th- and 12th-century poet-musicians of southern France, a song of lovers' parting at dawn or of a watchman's warning to lovers at ...
judet (county), western Romania, occupying an area of 2,406 square miles (6,231 square km). The Western Carpathians rise above the settled areas in intermontane valleys. The county is drained westward ...
town, Cuneo provincia, Piedmont regione, northwestern Italy. It lies along the Tanaro River southwest of Turin. It occupies the site of the Roman Alba Pompeia, which was probably founded by ...
the kingdom formed by the union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth I MacAlpin in 843. Their territory, ranging from modern Argyll and Bute to Caithness, across much of ...
a Provencal song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman's warning to lovers at dawn. Albas were sung by the 11th- and 12th-century troubadours. Some sources ...
ancient fortified town at the foot of Mount Velino, Italy. It was originally a town of the ancient Marsi people but was occupied by a Latin colony about 303 BC. ...
city, capital of Alba judet (county), west-central Romania. It lies along the Mures River, 170 miles (270 km) northwest of Bucharest. One of the oldest settlements in Romania, the site ...
ancient city of Latium, Italy, in the Alban Hills about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, near present Castel Gandolfo. Tradition attributes its founding (c. 1152 BC) to Ascanius, ...
Spanish soldier and statesman famous for his conquest of Portugal (1580) and notorious for his tyranny as governor-general of the Netherlands (1567-73). In the Netherlands he instituted the Council of ...
provincia in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Castile-La Mancha, southeast-central Spain. It occupies the southeastern end of the Meseta Central (plateau). Albacete is the driest interior province of the ...
capital of Albacete provincia, Castile-La Mancha comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community"), southeast-central Spain. Albacete is located in the historic La Mancha region, on the Don Juan River at its juncture with ...
Jewish philosopher who rendered a Hebrew translation of parts of the Maqasid al-falasifah ("Aims of the Philosophers"), a review of doctrines of earlier thinkers by the Arabic philosopher al-Ghazali, to ...
area of extinct volcanoes in the Lazio (Latium) regione of central Italy, southeast of Rome. The hills consist of an outer circle, 6-8 miles (10-13 km) in diameter, rising to ...
Italian painter, one of the 17th-century Bolognese masters trained in the studio of the Carracci. He assisted Guido Reni in a number of major decorative cycles, including that of the ...
country located in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula on the Strait of Otranto, the southern entrance to the Adriatic Sea. It encompasses an area of 11,100 square miles ...
Indo-European language spoken in Albania and by smaller numbers of ethnic Albanians in other parts of the southern Balkans, along the east coast of Italy and in Sicily, in southern ...
first Albanian nationalist organization. Formed at Prizren, Serbia, on July 1, 1878, the league, initially supported by the Turks, tried to influence the Congress of Berlin, which was formulating a ...
crater lake in the Alban Hills (Colli Albani), southeast of Rome. Elliptical in shape, formed by the fusion of two ancient volcanic craters, it lies 961 feet (293 m) above ...
city, capital (1797) of the state of New York, U.S., and seat (1683) of Albany county. It lies along the Hudson River, 143 miles (230 km) north of New York ...
city, seat (1851) of Linn county, western Oregon, U.S., in the Willamette Valley, at the juncture of the Willamette and Calapooia rivers, 26 miles (42 km) south of Salem. Established ...
city, seat (1853) of Dougherty county, southwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies along the Flint River at the head of navigation, about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of Columbus. Founded in ...
county, east-central New York state, U.S., bordered by the Mohawk River to the northeast and the Hudson River to the east. The terrain rises from the Hudson valley lowlands in ...
southernmost town and seaport of Western Australia. It lies on the northern shore of Princess Royal Harbour, King George Sound. The naturally broad, deep, sheltered harbour was visited and charted ...
conference in U.S. colonial history (June 19-July 11, 1754) at Albany, N.Y., which advocated a union of the British colonies in North America for their security and defense against the ...
river, north central Ontario, Canada, rising in Lake St. Joseph at an elevation of 1,218 ft (371 m) and flowing generally eastward into James Bay. For 250 mi (400 km) ...
second son of James II of Scotland, created duke of Albany in or before 1458. Both he and John, earl of Mar, quarrelled with their brother James III, who imprisoned ...
regent of Scotland during the reign of James V and advocate of close ties between France and Scotland. His father, Alexander Stewart (c. 1454-85), the 1st duke of Albany of ...
wife of the Young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward, unsuccessful Stuart claimant to the English throne. Later she became the mistress of the Italian poet and dramatist Vittorio Alfieri.
regent of Scotland who virtually ruled Scotland from 1388 to 1420, throughout the reign of his weak brother Robert III and during part of the reign of James I, who ...
pottery jar for apothecaries' ointments and dry drugs made in the Near East and in Spain and produced in Italy from the 15th through the 18th century in the form ...
any of more than a dozen species of large seabirds that collectively make up the family Diomedeidae (order Procellariiformes). Because of their tameness on land, many albatrosses are known by ...
fraction of light that is reflected by a body or surface. It is commonly used in astronomy to describe the reflective properties of planets, satellites, and asteroids.
American dramatist and theatrical producer best-known for his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), which displays slashing insight and witty dialogue in its gruesome portrayal of ...
theatrical manager who, as the general manager of the Keith-Albee theatre circuit, was the most influential person in vaudeville in the United States. A circus ticket seller when he joined ...
one of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Albeluvisols are characterized by a subsurface layer of brownish clay into which "tongues" ...
