Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) plea bargaining, negotiation in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for concessions by the prosecutor (representing the state). The defendant waives the right to ...

(Encyclopedia) Cinco de Mayo, May 5, the anniversary of Mexico's victory over France in 1862 in the Battle of Puebla, in which Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza's small, ill-equipped Mexican forces defeated a much larger French...

(Encyclopedia) Worcester, industrial city (1990 pop. 169,759), seat of Worcester co., central Mass., on the Blackstone River; inc. 1722. The canalization (1828) of the Blackstone River marked the beginning of Worces...

(Encyclopedia) Athens. 1 City (2020 population 25406), seat of Limestone co., N Al; inc. 1818. One of the first incorporated cities in Alabma, the city was established a year before the state was ...

(Encyclopedia) Oswego, river, 23 mi (37 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Oneida and the Seneca rivers, central N.Y., NW of Syracuse and flowing NW to Lake Ontario at Oswego. It has been canalized and incorp...

(Encyclopedia) Geneva, city (2020 pop. 12,812), Ontario co., W central N.Y., in the Finger Lakes region; inc. as a city 1897. Located in a farm area, Geneva's manufact...

(Encyclopedia) Horseshoe Bend, a turn on the Tallapoosa River, near Dadeville, E central Ala., site of a battle on Mar. 27, 1814, in which the Creeks, led by chief William Weatherford, were significantly defeated by...

(Encyclopedia) De Soto, Hernando dĭsōˈtō, Span. ĕrnänˈdō dā sōˈtō [key], c.1500–1542, Spanish explorer. After serving under Pedro Arias de Ávila in Central America and under Francisco Pizarro in Peru,...

(Encyclopedia) Geronimo jərŏnˈəmōˌ [key], c.1829–1909, leader of a Chiricahua group of the Apaches, b. Arizona. From his youth he participated in the forays of Cochise, Victorio, and other Apache leaders. Wh...

(Encyclopedia) trusteeship, territorial, system of UN control for territories that were not self-governing. It replaced the mandates of the League of Nations. Provided for under chapters 12 and 13 of the Charter of ...