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) Pepin, Lake pĕpˈĭn, pĭpˈ– [key], a widening of the Mississippi River, 21 mi (34 km) long and c.3 mi (5 km) wide, SE Minn., between Wabasha and Red Wing; formed by a natural dam of silt dropped ...

(Encyclopedia) Rock River, c.285 mi (460 km) long, rising in SE Wis. and flowing SW through NW Ill. to the Mississippi River near Rock Island. It flows through a fertile farm area. Rockford, Ill., is the chief city ...

(Encyclopedia) Granite City, city (2020 pop. 27,549), Madison co., SW Ill., an industrial suburb of East St. Louis, on the Mississippi; inc. 1896. It has port and rail...

(Encyclopedia) Pope, John, 1822–92, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Louisville, Ky. He fought with distinction at Monterrey and Buena Vista in the Mexican War and later served with the topographical en...

(Encyclopedia) Gateway Arch National Park, 90.9 acres (36.8 hectares), St. Louis, Mo., est. 1935 as Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, designated a national park and renamed 2018. Located on the Mississippi, the...

(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...