Robert Maillart was a Swiss bridge engineer whose radical use of reinforced concrete revolutionized masonry arch bridge design. After studying at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Zürich, where he received a degree in structural engineering in 1894, Maillart worked for several private

Nicolas Desmarets, marquis de Maillebois was the minister of finance during the last seven years of the reign (1643–1715) of Louis XIV of France. A nephew of Louis’s great finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Desmarets rose rapidly in financial administration, but on Colbert’s death (1683) he

New Brunswick: The arts: Antonine Maillet, an Acadian novelist and playwright from Bouctouche, achieved international recognition for her writing in French, which strikingly reveals the 17th-century idiom and structure of the language as spoken by today’s Acadians.

Aristide Maillol was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker whose monumental statues of female nudes display a concern for mass and rigorous formal analysis. Maillol began his artistic career as a painter and tapestry designer; his early work reflected his great admiration for the Nabis, a

Paris: Medieval development and discord (12th century to 16th century): …a revolt called the “Maillotin uprising.” The rioters, armed with mauls (maillets), were ruthlessly put down, and the municipal function was suspended for the next 79 years. It was not until 1533, when Francis I ordered the teetering House of Pillars replaced by a new building, that a monarch…

Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, duchess de Châteauroux was a mistress of Louis XV of France who used her influence with the king to promote French involvement in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). The fifth daughter of Louis de Mailly, Marquis de Nesle, Marie-Anne was married in 1734 to the

Louis XV: Already Pauline de Mailly-Nesle, marquise de Vintimille, Louis’s mistress from 1739 to 1741, had sponsored the war party that brought France into the inconclusive War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) against Austria and Great Britain. In September 1745 the king took as his official mistress (maîtresse…

Karl Malone is a former basketball player who owns the National Basketball Association (NBA) career record for free throws attempted (13,188) and made (9,787). He also ranks third in career points scored (36,928), field goals made (13,528), and minutes played (54,852). In 1996 Malone, known as “the

Theodore H. Maiman was an American physicist, who constructed the first laser, a device that produces monochromatic coherent light, or light in which the rays are all of the same wavelength and phase. The laser has found numerous practical uses, ranging from delicate surgery to measuring the

Theodore H. Maiman was an American physicist, who constructed the first laser, a device that produces monochromatic coherent light, or light in which the rays are all of the same wavelength and phase. The laser has found numerous practical uses, ranging from delicate surgery to measuring the

Meymaneh, town, northwestern Afghanistan. It lies at the northern foot of the Torkestān Mountain Range at an elevation of 2,850 feet (870 m). The town serves an agricultural area irrigated from the Qeyṣār River and also handles the trade in Karakul sheep with nomads. Meymaneh is linked with

Mmusi Maimane is a South African businessman and politician who has been active in opposition parties in the country. Since 2022, he has been the head of the Build One South Africa (BOSA) party, which he helped establish. Since 2024, he has served in the National Assembly as one of BOSA’s MPs. He

Mmusi Maimane is a South African businessman and politician who has been active in opposition parties in the country. Since 2022, he has been the head of the Build One South Africa (BOSA) party, which he helped establish. Since 2024, he has served in the National Assembly as one of BOSA’s MPs. He

Louis Maimbourg was a French Jesuit and historian who wrote critical works on Calvinism and Lutheranism and a defense of Gallican liberties—the belief that the Roman Catholic church in France should maintain some independence from papal control. Maimbourg was born to a noble family. He entered the

Salomon Maimon was a Jewish philosopher whose acute Skepticism caused him to be acknowledged by the major German philosopher Immanuel Kant as his most perceptive critic. He combined an early and extensive familiarity with rabbinic learning with a proficiency in Hebrew, and, after acquiring a

Erich Mendelsohn: …his important works include the Maimonides Hospital (1946). To his credit also are synagogues and community centres in St. Louis, Mo.; Cleveland, Ohio; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and St. Paul, Minn.

Moses Maimonides was a Jewish philosopher, jurist, and physician, the foremost intellectual figure of medieval Judaism. His first major work, begun at age 23 and completed 10 years later, was a commentary on the Mishna, the collected Jewish oral laws. A monumental code of Jewish law followed in

African literature: French: Abdoulaye Sadji of Senegal wrote Maïmouna (1958; Eng. trans. Maïmouna), about an African girl who leaves home and goes to Dakar, where she is seduced. She returns to her home and bears a child who dies; she becomes ill but then recovers her traditional roots.

Mongo Beti: Main basse sur le Cameroun (1972; “Rape of Cameroon”), a book explaining the emplacement of a neocolonial regime in his homeland, was immediately banned in France and in Cameroon. Two years later he published the novels Perpétue et l’habitude du malheur (1974; Perpetua and the…

Main Botanical Garden of the Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s largest botanical gardens. Founded in 1945, it occupies a 360-hectare (889-acre) site in Moscow, Russia. About 21,000 varieties of plants are cultivated, many of which are native to Russia. One of its unique features is a large

Library of Congress: The Thomas Jefferson Building (originally called the Congressional Library, or Main Building) houses the Main Reading Room. Designed in Italian Renaissance style, it was completed in 1897 and magnificently restored 100 years later. The John Adams Building, completed in 1939, received its current name in 1980…

West Wyalong, town, south-central New South Wales, Australia. It is situated in the fertile Riverina district. Founded as a gold-mining settlement in 1895, it was originally known as Main Camp to distinguish it from Wyalong (3 miles [5 km] away). Proclaimed a town in 1900, it became a shire in

metamorphic rock: Structural features: …Himalayan mountain belt is the Main Central Thrust, a thrust fault that runs for hundreds of kilometres from east to west and was responsible for the transportation of rocks belonging to the Eurasian Plate southward over those of the Indian Plate. Along much of the length of this fault, the…

the Bee Gees: At the forefront of disco: …returned to the charts with Main Course (1975). Recorded in Miami, grounded in rhythm and blues, and typified by the chart-topping single “Jive Talkin’,” the album put the Bee Gees at the forefront of the disco movement. Barry also debuted a falsetto singing voice that soon became a trademark of…

Georg Brandes: (1872–90; Main Currents in 19th Century Literature). In these lectures, which catalyzed the breakthrough to realism in Danish literature, Brandes called for writers to reject the fantasy and abstract idealism of late Romanticism and instead work in the service of progressive ideas and the reform of…

coal mining: Ground control and roof support: Main entries are driven so as to divide the property into major areas; they usually serve the life of the mine for ventilation and for worker and material transport. Submain entries can be regarded as feeders from the mains that subdivide each major area. From…

Malaysia: Sports and recreation: Top-spinning (main gasing) competitions are seriously contested, with winning tops often spinning for well over an hour. In some areas, top spinning is not merely a random pastime but is associated with the agricultural cycle. Kite flying also is a favourite activity, as are bird-singing contests,…

Earth: The geomagnetic field and magnetosphere: Earth’s main magnetic field permeates the planet and an enormous volume of space surrounding it. A great teardrop-shaped region of space called the magnetosphere is formed by the interaction of Earth’s field with the solar wind. At a distance of about 65,000 km (40,000 miles) outward…

coal mining: Haulage: …coal onto the primary or main haulage; and the main haulage system, which removes the coal from the mine. The fundamental difference between face, intermediate, and main haulages is that the last two are essentially auxiliary operations in support of the first. Face haulage systems must be designed to handle…

Cuba Gooding, Jr.: …of the R&B group the Main Ingredient, which had a major hit in 1972 with the song “Everybody Plays the Fool.” The family moved to Los Angeles about that time, but Gooding’s father left the family two years later. Gooding began break dancing in the early 1980s, and he was…

particle accelerator: Proton synchrotrons: In 1999 the Main Injector, a new synchrotron with a 3.3-km (2.1-mile) magnet ring, replaced the earlier machine to provide a more-intense beam for the Tevatron.

Bermuda: The main islands are clustered together in the shape of a fishhook and are connected by bridges. The largest island is Main Island, 14 miles (22.5 km) long and 1 mile wide. The Peak, at 259 feet (79 metres) on Main Island, is the highest point.…

cache memory: …an extension of, a computer’s main memory. Both main memory and cache are internal random-access memories (RAMs) that use semiconductor-based transistor circuits. Cache holds a copy of only the most frequently used information or program codes stored in the main memory. The smaller capacity of the cache reduces the time…

parliamentary procedure: Rules of parliamentary procedure: Motions may be classified as main motions, which introduce a proposition, or as secondary motions, which are designed to affect the main motion or its consideration. A main motion is in order only when there is no other business before an assembly. It yields in precedence to all other questions.

Keith Richards: The Rolling Stones: …albums Talk Is Cheap (1988), Main Offender (1992), and Crosseyed Heart (2015). Such influences can also be found in his collaborations with other musicians, such as those with Eric Clapton, Ron Wood (who joined the Rolling Stones in 1975), Tom Waits, George Jones, and Richards’s backing band the X-Pensive Winos.

Poland: Media and publishing: Under the communist government, the Main Office for the Control of the Press, Publications, and Public Performances (GUKPIW), headquartered in Warsaw, controlled the media, publishing, films, theatres, exhibitions, advertising, and related activities. The bureau maintained an office in all television and radio stations, press and publishing houses, film and theatre…

Main Range, mountain range in West Malaysia, the most prominent mountain group on the Malay Peninsula. Composed of granite with some patches of altered stratified rocks, the range extends southward for 300 miles (480 km) from the Thai border, with elevations rarely less than 3,000 feet (900 m) and

Trinidad and Tobago: Relief and drainage: Its dominant feature is the Main Ridge, which runs from northeast to southwest, rising to heights of about 1,800 feet (550 metres). The ridge slopes more gently to the southwest onto a coral plain. The coral formation has given rise to a number of reefs, one of which, Buccoo Coral…

Main River, river, an important right- (east-) bank tributary of the Rhine in Germany. It is formed, near Kulmbach, by the confluence of the Weisser (White) Main, which rises in the Fichtel Mountains, and the Roter (Red) Main, which rises on the eastern slope of the Fränkische Mountains (Franconian

star cluster: Globular clusters: …of stars along the lower main sequence, with a giant branch containing more-luminous stars curving from there upward to the red and with a horizontal branch starting about halfway up the giant branch and extending toward the blue.

astronomy: Measuring observable stellar properties: …of hydrostatic equilibrium are termed main-sequence stars, and they occupy a well-defined band on the Hertzsprung-Russell (H-R) diagram, in which luminosity is plotted against colour index or temperature. Spectral classification, based initially on the colour index, includes the major spectral types O, B, A, F, G, K and M, each…

Colin Firth: From the The King’s Speech to the Kingsman series: …businessman in the small-town drama Main Street (2010), Firth took the role of a British intelligence agent suspected of treason in the 2011 film adaptation of John le Carré’s novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. In the dark comedy Arthur Newman (2012), he starred as a discontented family man who fakes…

Main Street, novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1920. The story of Main Street is filtered through the eyes of Carol Kennicott, a young woman married to a Midwestern doctor who settles in the Minnesota town of Gopher Prairie (modeled on Lewis’s hometown of Sauk Centre). The book’s power derives

Seven Weeks’ War: …Prussian detachment, known as the army of the Main, meanwhile dealt with the forces of Bavaria and other German states that had sided with Austria. Simultaneously, a campaign was fought in Venetia between the Austrian army of the south and the Italians, who had made an alliance with Prussia.

Elsie Clews Parsons was an American sociologist and anthropologist whose studies of the Pueblo and other Native American peoples of the southwestern United States remain standard references. Elsie Clews attended private schools and graduated from Barnard College (1896). She then studied history and

asteroid: Distribution and Kirkwood gaps: …AU, a region called the main belt. The mean distances are not uniformly distributed but exhibit population depletions, or “gaps.” Those so-called Kirkwood gaps are due to mean-motion resonances with Jupiter’s orbital period. An asteroid with a mean distance from the Sun of 2.50 AU, for example, makes three circuits…

Witwatersrand System: …is divided into the lower Main-Bird Series, followed by the Kimberley-Elsburg Series. The Government Reef Series consists of alternating shales and quartzites in addition to pebbly layers that contain gold deposits; it also contains indications of a period of extensive glaciation. The most economically important series is the Main-Bird Series,…

Main-Danube Canal, commercial waterway in the southern German state of Bavaria. Completed in 1992, the canal is 171 km (106 miles) long and runs from Bamberg on the Main River (a tributary of the Rhine River) to Kelheim on the Danube River, permitting traffic to flow between the North Sea and the

Main-Danube Canal, commercial waterway in the southern German state of Bavaria. Completed in 1992, the canal is 171 km (106 miles) long and runs from Bamberg on the Main River (a tributary of the Rhine River) to Kelheim on the Danube River, permitting traffic to flow between the North Sea and the

chemical compound: The periodic table: …and 2 are called the representative metals; those in the centre of the periodic table are called the transition metals. The lanthanoids and actinoids shown below the periodic table are special classes of transition metals.

Hamlin Garland: …stories that were collected in Main-Travelled Roads (1891), one of his best works. The short stories he published in Prairie Folk (1892) and Wayside Courtships (1897) were later combined in Other Main-Travelled Roads (1910). In 1892 Garland published three lacklustre novels. His next novel, Rose of Dutcher’s Coolly (1895), tells…

Máni, peninsula of the southern Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), in the nomós (department) of Laconia (Lakonía), Greece. The area has been set aside as a historical district by the government. The rugged, rather isolated peninsula, 28 miles (45 km) long, is an extension of the Taïyetos

Máni, peninsula of the southern Peloponnese (Modern Greek: Pelopónnisos), in the nomós (department) of Laconia (Lakonía), Greece. The area has been set aside as a historical district by the government. The rugged, rather isolated peninsula, 28 miles (45 km) long, is an extension of the Taïyetos

François Maynard was a French poet, leading disciple of François de Malherbe and, like him, concerned with the clarification of the French language. He is commonly confused with François Ménard of Nîmes, also a poet. Maynard obtained a post with Marguerite de Valois in 1605 and began writing

Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara was a soldier, diplomat, and politician who orchestrated a coup in 1996 that overthrew Niger’s first democratically elected government. He subsequently served as president (1996–99) until his assassination. Maïnassara, who was of Hausa ancestry, enlisted in the army in 1970

motherboard, printed circuit board (PCB) that connects all components of a general-purpose computer. A motherboard is often referred to as the “backbone” or “spine” of a computer. A motherboard is easily identified, as it is the largest board inside a computer’s casing. In tower computers, it

Maine, historic region encompassing the western French départements of Mayenne and Sarthe and coextensive with the former province of Maine. The two Gallo-Roman civitates of the Cenomani and of the Diablintes were merged in the middle of the 5th century into the single pagus, or district, of Le

Maine, constituent state of the United States of America. The largest of the six New England states in area, it lies at the northeastern corner of the country. Its total area, including about 2,300 square miles (6,000 square km) of inland water, represents nearly half of the total area of New

destruction of the Maine, (February 15, 1898), an incident preceding the Spanish-American War in which a mysterious explosion sank the U.S. battleship Maine in the harbour of Havana. The destruction of the Maine was one of a series of incidents that precipitated the United States’ intervention in

Maine coon cat, North America’s only native breed of longhaired domestic cat. Though its origins are unknown, it was first shown in Boston in 1878. Maines are large, muscular, and heavy-boned; they may have been named for their raccoon-like tail. Excellent mousers, they are known for their

Marie-François-Pierre Maine de Biran was a French statesman, empiricist philosopher, and prolific writer who stressed the inner life of man, against the prevalent emphasis on external sense experience, as a prerequisite for understanding the human self. Born with the surname Gonthier de Biran, he

Robert P. Tristram Coffin: …series on American rivers; and Maine Doings (1950), informal essays on New England life.

Colby College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Waterville, Maine, U.S. Colby is an undergraduate college with a curriculum based in the liberal arts and sciences. It offers study-abroad programs in France, Spain, Ireland, Mexico, England, and Russia. Campus facilities

Lata Mangeshkar: Career: … (1978; “Truth God Beauty”), and Maine Pyar Kiya (1989; “I Have Loved”). Notable among her concert performances was her soulful rendition of Kavi Pradeep and C. Ramachandra’s patriotic song “Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo” in 1963, which moved Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.

Maine River, river, Maine-et-Loire département, western France, 7 mi (12 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loire rivers. Within 6 mi (north) of Angers, the Loire, meandering from the east, joins the southward-flowing Sarthe River, which is linked about 2.5 mi

Bates College, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Lewiston, Maine, U.S. It is a liberal arts college that offers bachelor’s degree programs in literature, languages, social sciences, life and physical sciences, philosophy, and other areas. Research facilities include the

University of Maine, state university system of Maine, U.S. It comprises seven coeducational institutions, including the University of Southern Maine. The University of Maine is a land-grant and sea-grant university based in Orono. It offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional

The Maine Woods, collection of three autobiographical narratives by Henry David Thoreau. Each of the essays recounts the details of an excursion in Maine. The collection, edited by the clergyman and writer William Ellery Channing, Thoreau’s friend and frequent touring companion, was issued

destruction of the Maine, (February 15, 1898), an incident preceding the Spanish-American War in which a mysterious explosion sank the U.S. battleship Maine in the harbour of Havana. The destruction of the Maine was one of a series of incidents that precipitated the United States’ intervention in

U.S. state flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) with the state coat of arms in the center.Until 1820 Maine was a district of Massachusetts, and its early symbols were based on that connection. The pine tree emblem that had been adopted for the Massachusetts naval flag in April 1776 was

Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, duke du Maine was an illegitimate son of King Louis XIV of France who attempted without success to wrest control of the government from Philippe II, Duke d’Orléans, who was the regent (1715–23) for Louis XIV’s successor, Louis XV. The eldest surviving child of Louis XIV by

Sir Henry Maine was a British jurist and legal historian who pioneered the study of comparative law, notably primitive law and anthropological jurisprudence. While professor of civil law at the University of Cambridge (1847–54), Maine also began lecturing on Roman law at the Inns of Court, London.

Sir Henry Maine was a British jurist and legal historian who pioneered the study of comparative law, notably primitive law and anthropological jurisprudence. While professor of civil law at the University of Cambridge (1847–54), Maine also began lecturing on Roman law at the Inns of Court, London.

University of Maine, state university system of Maine, U.S. It comprises seven coeducational institutions, including the University of Southern Maine. The University of Maine is a land-grant and sea-grant university based in Orono. It offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and professional

livestock farming: Beef cattle breeds: …fourth important breed is the Maine–Anjou, which is the largest of the French breeds.

Pays de la Loire: of Mayenne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, Vendée, and Loire-Atlantique. Pays de la Loire is bounded by the régions of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the northwest, Normandy to the north, Centre to the east, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the south. The Bay of Biscay in the Atlantic Ocean lies to the

Paris: Modern business quarters: The centrepiece of the Maine-Montparnasse district is a 59-story office tower on the site of the old Montparnasse railway station. A more compact station was built one street away on the avenue du Maine, where the rails are hidden on three sides by buildings 15 to 18 stories high.…

the Chicks: ), and Natalie Maines (b. October 14, 1974, Lubbock, Texas, U.S.). Early members of the group included guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, who left in 1992, and vocalist Laura Lynch, who was replaced by Maines in 1995.

the Chicks: ), and Natalie Maines (b. October 14, 1974, Lubbock, Texas, U.S.). Early members of the group included guitarist Robin Lynn Macy, who left in 1992, and vocalist Laura Lynch, who was replaced by Maines in 1995.

mainframe, digital computer designed for high-speed data processing with heavy use of input/output units such as large-capacity disks and printers. Mainframes have been used for such applications as payroll computations, accounting, business transactions, information retrieval, airline seat

Mainichi shimbun, national daily newspaper, one of Japan’s “big three” dailies, which publishes morning and evening editions in Tokyo, Ōsaka, and three other regional centres. The newspaper had as its origin the Nihon Rikken Seitō shimbun (“Japan Constitutional Government Party Newspaper”), which

Monasterboice, ruins of an ancient monastic settlement founded by Buitre (died 521) 5 miles (8 km) north of Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland. The relics, dating from the 5th to the 12th century, comprise two churches, a round tower (one of the highest in Ireland), three sculptured crosses, two

Lake Mainit, lake on the border of Surigao del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces, northeastern Mindanao, Philippines. The country’s fourth largest lake, it has an area of 58 square miles (150 square km). Its outlet is the Tubay River, which flows southward before entering Butuan Bay of the

Mainland, central and largest of the Orkney Islands of Scotland, which lie off the northern tip of the Scottish mainland. The shores of this irregularly shaped island are deeply indented (from north and south, respectively) by the inlets of Kirkwall Bay and Scapa Flow, reducing its width to less

Shetland Islands: Among the settlements on Mainland, the largest island, is Scalloway, a fishing port. Lerwick, also on Mainland, is the islands’ largest town and commercial and administrative centre.

elephant: …elephant includes three subspecies: the Indian, or mainland (E. maximus indicus), the Sumatran (E. maximus sumatranus), and the Sri Lankan (E. maximus maximus). African elephants have much larger ears, which are used to dissipate body heat.

serow: mainland serow is extremely variable. The head, neck, and long mane are grizzled black, and the fur may turn rusty red on the shoulders, flanks, and lower thighs. There is a varying amount of white on the muzzle, throat, chest, and mane. Weight is about…

drug use: Means of administration: …popping” (subcutaneous route) to “mainlining” (intravenous route), each step bringing a more intense experience and a higher addiction liability. With mainlining, the initial thrill is more immediate. Within seconds a warm glowing sensation spreads over the body, most intense in the stomach and intestines, comparable to sexual release. This…

sail: …termed the foremast and the mainmast; when the aftermast is considerably smaller they are named the mainmast and the mizzenmast. In all three-masted vessels the names of the masts are foremast, mainmast and mizzenmast.

Sonia Gandhi is an Italian-born Indian politician who was president of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party; 1998–2017, 2019–22) and chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (2004– ), a coalition of centre-left parties. While studying English at a language school in Cambridge,

Mainpuri, city, southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies in the alluvial plain of the Ganges-Yamuna Doab, about 60 miles (96 km) east of Agra. Mainpuri and the surrounding territory were part of the kingdom of Kannauj (Kanauj) and became splintered politically when the kingdom fell

watch: Mechanical watches: The mainspring, the element that drives the watch, consists of a flat spring-steel band stressed in bending or coiling; when the watch, or other spring-driven mechanism, is wound, the curvature of the spring is increased, and energy is thus stored. This energy is transmitted to the…

Andrew Garfield: Roles from the 2020s: …a social media influencer in Mainstream (2020), Gia Coppola’s satire about Internet culture, and as Jim Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021), the story of the infamous televangelist couple. While Garfield was filming the latter, his mother died from pancreatic cancer, and he later spoke about how he…

feminism: Dissension and debate: The first was liberal, or mainstream, feminism, which focused its energy on concrete and pragmatic change at an institutional and governmental level. Its goal was to integrate women more thoroughly into the power structure and to give women equal access to positions men had traditionally dominated. While aiming…

intellectual disability: Care and education: Mainstreaming—the integration of children from special education classes with those in the regular program—is an attempt to acquaint intellectually disabled children with normal school routines, an often laudable goal which can nevertheless create daunting educational challenges for teachers as well as for intellectually disabled and…

harbours and sea works: Maintenance: Methods of underwater scaling and painting, or the use of limpet dams with which small areas can be covered with watertight enclosures inside of which people can work under compressed air, allow a limited measure of attention to be given to the bottom plating…

Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon was the second wife and untitled queen of King Louis XIV of France. She encouraged an atmosphere of dignity and piety at court and founded an educational institution for poor girls at Saint-Cyr (1686). She was born at Niort, in Poitou, perhaps in the same

Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon was the second wife and untitled queen of King Louis XIV of France. She encouraged an atmosphere of dignity and piety at court and founded an educational institution for poor girls at Saint-Cyr (1686). She was born at Niort, in Poitou, perhaps in the same

Mainz, city, capital of Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), west-central Germany. It is a port on the left bank of the Rhine River opposite Wiesbaden and the mouth of the Main River. It was the site of a Celtic settlement where the Romans established (14–9 bce) a military camp known as Mogontiacum

Rhine River: The economy: …put into effect by the Mainz Convention of 1831, which also established the Central Commission of the Rhine. This first treaty was simplified and revised in the Mannheim Convention of 1868, which, with the extension in 1918 of all privileges to ships of all countries and not merely the riverine…