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Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630


Nashe, Thomas
English poet, satirist, and anti-Puritan pamphleteer. He was drawn into the Martin Marprelate controversy and wrote at least three attacks on the Martinists. Among his later works are the satirical Pierce Pennilesse, his Supplication to the Divell (1592) and the religious Christes Teares over Jerusalem (159...

Nash, Paul
English painter. He was an official war artist in World Wars I and II. In the 1930s he was one of a group of artists promoting avant-garde style, and was deeply influenced by surrealism. Two works which illustrate the visionary quality of his paintings are Totes Meer/Dead Sea (1940–41; Tate Gallery, London) and &...

Nash, John
English architect. His large country-house practice, established about 1796 with the landscape gardener Humphry Repton, used a wide variety of styles, and by 1798 he was enjoying the patronage of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV). Later he laid out Regent's Park, London, and its appr...

Naseby, Battle of
Decisive battle of the English Civil War on 14 June 1645, when the Royalists, led by Prince Rupert, were defeated by the Parliamentarians (`Roundheads`) under Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax. It is named after the nearby village of Naseby, 32 km/20 mi south of Leicester

narcotic
Pain-relieving and sleep-inducing drug. The term is usually applied to heroin, morphine, and other opium derivatives, but may also be used for other drugs which depress brain activity, including anaesthetic agents and hypnotics

narcissus
Any of a group of bulbous plants belonging to the amaryllis family. Species include the daffodil, jonquil, and narcissus. All have flowers with a cup or trumpet projecting from the centre. (Genus Narcissus, family Amaryllidaceae.)

narcissism
In psychology, an exaggeration of normal self-respect and self-involvement which may amount to mental disorder when it precludes relationships with other people

Napoleon III
Emperor of the French 1852–70, known as Louis-Napoleon. After two attempted coups (1836 and 1840) he was jailed, then went into exile, returning for the revolution of 1848, when he became president of the Second Republic but proclaimed himself emperor in 1852. In 1870 he was manoeuvred by th...

Napoleon I
Click images to enlargeEmperor of the French 1804–14 and 1814–15. A general from 1795 in the Revolutionary Wars, in 1799 he overthrew the ruling Directory (see French Revolution) and made himself dictator. From 1803 he conquered most of Europe (the Napoleonic Wars) and installed his brothers as puppet kings (see...

Naples
(town) Industrial port and capital of Campania, Italy, on the Tyrrhenian Sea; population (2001 est) 993,400. Industries include shipbuilding, food-processing, and the manufacture of cars, textiles, and paper. An important commercial and tourist centre, to the south is the Isle of Capri...

Nantucket
Resort island and county in southeast Massachusetts, USA, 40 km/25 mi south of Cape Cod across Nantucket Sound; population (2000 est) 9,500. Extending over 120 sq km/46 sq mi, its beaches have made it a popular summer vacation area. The island was explored by the English in 1602, settled in 1659 by Quaker and Presbyterian families, and ...

Nantes, Edict of
Decree by which Henry IV of France granted religious freedom to the Huguenots in 1598. It was revoked in 1685 by Louis XIV

Nantes
Industrial port and administrative centre of the département of Loire-Atlantique and the Pays de la Loire region in western France, situated on the right bank of the River Loire, 50 km/31 mi from its mouth; population (1999) 270,300. Industries include oil, sugar refining, metal goods, textiles, soap, biscuits, a...

Nansen, Fridtjof
Norwegian explorer and scientist. In 1893 he sailed to the Arctic in the Fram, which was deliberately allowed to drift north with an iceflow. Nansen, accompanied by F Hjalmar Johansen (1867–1923), continued north on foot and reached 86° 14' N, the highest latitude then attained. After World War I, Nansen became Leag...

nano-
Prefix used in SI units of measurement, equivalent to a one-billionth part (10-9). For example, a nanosecond is one-billionth of a second

Nanning
River port and capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on the Yong Jiang River; population (2000) 1,667,200. It is an important trading centre, particularly in spices. Industries include sugar-refining, flour-milling, food-processing, and the manufacture of chemicals, machinery, leather goods, and cotton textiles. It was...

Nanjing
Inland port and capital of Jiangsu province, China, 270 km/165 mi northwest of Shanghai; population (2000) 3,783,900. It is a commercial and industrial centre and communications hub, with industries which include iron and steel, engineering, machine tools, motor vehicles, bicycles, electronics, shipbuilding, oil refining, and chemicals, esp...

Nanga Parbat
Peak in the Himalayan Karakoram Mountains of Kashmir; height 8,126 m/26,660 ft

Nanda Devi
Peak in the Himalayas, Uttarakhand, northern India; height 7,817 m/25,645 ft. Until Kanchenjunga was absorbed into India, Nanda Devi was the country's highest mountain

Nancy
Administrative centre of the département of Meurthe-et-Moselle in the Lorraine region of France, on the River Meurthe and the Rhine and Marne Canal, 280 km/175 mi east of Paris; population (1999) 103,600, conurbation 331,200. Nancy dates from the 11th century. It has a university (founded in 1572, transferred...

Nanchang
Capital of Jiangxi province, China, on the River Gan, about 260 km/160 mi southeast of Wuhan; population (2000) 1,680,800. In the later 20th century Nanchang became a major industrial centre with a wide range of industries including iron, machinery, especially diesel engines, motor vehicles, especially lorries and tractors, aircraft, chemic...

Nairobi
Capital and chief commercial and industrial centre of Kenya, in the central highlands at 1,660 m/5,450 ft; population (2002 est) 3,043,100 (urban area). Industries include engineering, paints, brewing, textiles, clothing, and food processing. It is the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and has the UN Centre fo...

Naipaul, V(idiadhar) S(urajprasad)
Trinidadian novelist and travel writer living in Britain. His novels, usually set in former colonies, explore the relationship between indigenous culture and Western influence. These include A House for Mr Biswas (1961), The Mimic Men (1967), In a Free State (1971; for which he won the Bo...

Nagpur
Industrial city in Maharashtra state, India, 710 km/440 mi east of Mumbai (formerly Bombay); population (2001 est) 2,123,000. Industries include textiles (especially cotton), metal goods, transport equipment, pharmaceuticals, and hosiery; oranges are traded. Nagpur was the centre of the Chanda Gond dynasty in the 10th–11th centurie...

Nagoya
Industrial seaport, seat of Aichi prefecture, and capital of the Chubu region, Honshu island, Japan; population (2000 est) 2,152,200. Situated at the head of Ise Bay, 260 km/162 mi west of Tokyo and 140 km/87 mi east of Osaka, Nagoya is the fourth-largest city of Japan and is a major port. Manufactured products include cars, textile...

Nagasaki
Industrial port (coal, iron, shipbuilding) on Nagasaki Bay, Kyushu Island, Japan, capital of Nagasaki prefecture; population (2000 est) 438,600. Industries include the manufacture of steel and electrical equipment. Nagasaki was the only Japanese port open to European trade from the 16th century until 1859. The first modern Japanese shipyard ope...

Nagaland
State of northeast India, bordering Myanmar on the east, and the Indian states of Manipur to the south, and Assam to the north and west; area 16,527 sq km/6,381 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,988,600, which is made up of many different tribal groups. The capital is Kohima. The state is mainly upland, averaging over 1,500 m/4,900 ft,...

naevus
Mole, or patch of discoloration on the skin which has been present from birth. There are many different types of naevi, including those composed of a cluster of small blood vessels, such as the `strawberry mark` (which usually disappears early in life) and the `port-wine stain`. A naevus of moderate size is harmless, and suc...

Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich
US writer. He left his native Russia in 1917 and began writing in English in the 1940s. His most widely known book is Lolita (1955), the story of the middle-aged Humbert Humbert's infatuation with a precocious girl of 12. His other books, remarkable for their word play and ingenious plots, include Laughter in the...

nadir
Point on the celestial sphere vertically below the observer and hence diametrically opposite the zenith

naphtha
Mixtures of hydrocarbons obtained by destructive distillation of petroleum, coal tar, and shale oil. It is a raw material for the petrochemical and plastics industries. The term was originally applied to naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbons

naphthalene
Solid, white, shiny, aromatic hydrocarbon obtained from coal tar. The smell of moth balls is due to their naphthalene content. It is used in making indigo and certain azo dyes, as a mild disinfectant, and as a pesticide

napalm
Fuel used in flamethrowers and incendiary bombs. Produced from jellied petrol, it is a mixture of naphthenic and palmitic acids. Napalm causes extensive burns because it sticks to the skin even when aflame. It was widely used by the US Army during the Vietnam War, and by Serb forces in the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina

nautilus
Sea animal related to octopuses and squids, with many short, grasping tentacles surrounding a sharp beak, but different in that it has an outer shell. It is a cephalopod, a type of mollusc, and is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans. The well-known pearly nautilus (N. pompilius) has a chambered spiral shell about 20 cm/...

narwhal
Toothed whale found only in the Arctic Ocean. It grows to 5 m/16 ft long, has a grey and black body, a small head, and short flippers. The male has a single spiral tusk growing straight out in front of its upper lip that can measure up to 2.7 m/9 ft long. (Species Monodon monoceros&l...

navigation, biological
Ability of animals or insects to navigate. Although many animals navigate by following established routes or known landmarks, many animals can navigate without such aids; for example, birds can fly several thousand miles back to their nest site, over unknown terrain. Such feats may be based on compass information derived from the position of th...

natural selection
Process by which gene frequencies in a population change through certain individuals producing more descendants than others because they are better able to survive and reproduce in their environment. The accumulated effect of natural selection is to produce adaptations such as the insulating coat of ...

nature–nurture controversy
Long-standing dispute among philosophers and psychologists over the relative importance of environment, that is, upbringing, experience, and learning (`nurture`), and heredity, that is, genetic inheritance (`nature`), in determining the make-up of an organism, as related to human personality and intelligence. One area of...

nature
The living world, including plants, animals, fungi, and all micro-organisms, as well as naturally formed features of the landscape, such as mountains and rivers

Nature Conservancy Council
Former name of UK government agency divided in 1991 into English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Countryside Council for Wales. The NCC was established by act of Parliament in 1973 (Nature Conservancy created by royal charter 1949) with the aims of designating and managing national nature reserves and other conservation areas; identi...

Namib Desert
Click images to enlargeCoastal desert region between the Kalahari Desert and the Atlantic Ocean, extending some 2,800 km/1,740 mi from Luanda in Angola to St Helena Bay in South Africa. Its aridity is caused by the descent of dry air cooled by the cold Benguela current along the coast. The sand dunes of the Namib Dese...

Navigation Acts
In British history, a series of acts of Parliament passed from 1381 to protect English shipping from foreign competition and to ensure monopoly trading between Britain and its colonies. The last was repealed in 1849 (coastal trade exempt until 1853). The Navigation Acts helped to establish England as a major sea power, although they led to higher p...

nastic movement
Plant movement that is caused by an external stimulus, such as light or temperature, but is directionally independent of its source, unlike tropisms. Nastic movements occur as a result of changes in water pressure within specialized cells or differing rates of growth in parts of the plant. Examples include the opening and closing of crocus flowers ...

natural logarithm
In mathematics, the exponent of a number expressed to base e, where e represents the irrational number 2.71828... . Natural logarithms are also called Napierian logarithms, after their inventor, the Scottish mathematician John Napier

nail
In biology, a hard, flat, flexible outgrowth of the digits of primates (humans, monkeys, and apes). Nails are composed of keratin

nautical mile
Unit of distance used in navigation, an internationally agreed standard (since 1959) equalling the average length of one minute of arc on a great circle of the Earth, or 1,852 m/6,076 ft. The term formerly applied to various units of distance used in navigation

NASA
US government agency for space flight and aeronautical research, founded in 1958 by the National Aeronautics and Space Act. Its headquarters are in Washington, DC, and its main installations include the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, the...

Napoleon II
Title given by the Bonapartists to the son of Napoleon I and Marie Louise; until 1814 he was known as the king of Rome and after 1818 as the duke of Reichstadt. After his father's abdication in 1814 he was taken to the Austrian court, where he spent the rest of his life

Napoleonic Wars
Click images to enlargeSeries of European wars (1803–15) conducted by Napoleon I of France against an alliance of Britain, the German states, Spain, Portugal, and Russia, following the Revolutionary Wars, and aiming for French conquest of Europe. At one time nearly all of Europe was under Napoleon's domination. H...

Napier, John
Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms in 1614 and `Napier's bones`, an early mechanical calculating device for multiplication and division. It was Napier who first used and then popularized the decimal point to separate the whole number part from the fractional part of a number

naiad
In classical mythology, a water nymph. Naiads lived in rivers and streams; nereids in the sea

Namibia
Click images to enlargeCountry in southwest Africa, bounded north by Angola and Zambia, east by Botswana and South Africa, and west by the Atlantic Ocean. Government Under its 1990 constitution, Namibia has a democratic multiparty system, with an executive president who is both head of state and government, an independent...

navy
Fleet of ships, usually a nation's warships and the organization to maintain them

Nazareth
City in Galilee, northern Israel, 30 km/19 mi southeast of Haifa; population (1997 est) 55,500. According to the New Testament it was the boyhood home of Jesus. In modern times Nazareth is a commercial centre for the Galilee area and a centre of local government in the Northern District of Israel, as well having a significant tourist indust...

Nazism
Click images to enlargeIdeology based on racism, nationalism, and the supremacy of the state over the individual. The German Nazi party, the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers' Party), was formed from the German Workers' Party (founded in 1919) and ...

Narcissus
In late Greek mythology, a beautiful youth who rejected the love of the nymph Echo and was condemned by Nemesis, goddess of retribution, to fall in love with his reflection in a pool. He pined away, and a flower which appeared at the spot was named after him. In psychology, narcissism signifies excessive love and admiration of oneself

nature reserve
Area set aside to protect a habitat and the wildlife that lives within it, with only restricted admission for the public. A nature reserve often provides a sanctuary for rare species and rare habitats, such as marshland. The world's largest is Etosha Reserve, Namibia; area 99,520 sq km/38,415 sq mi

native metal
Any of the metallic elements that occur in nature in the chemically uncombined or elemental form (in addition to any combined form). They include bismuth, cobalt, copper, gold, iridium, iron, lead, mercury, nickel, osmium, palladium, platinum, ruthenium, rhodium, tin, and silver. Some are commonly found in the free state, such as gold; others o...

navigation
The science and technology of finding the position, course, and distance travelled by a ship, plane, or other craft. Traditional methods include the magnetic compass and sextant. Today the gyrocompass is usually used, together with highly sophisticated electronic methods, employing beacons of radio signals, such as Decca, Loran, and Omega. Satellit...

nativity
Christian festival celebrating a birth: Christmas has been celebrated on 25 December from AD 336 in memory of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem; Nativity of the Virgin Mary is celebrated on 8 September by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches; Nativity of John the Baptist is celebrated on 24 June by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, an...

Nakasone, Yasuhiro
Japanese conservative politician, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and prime minister 1982–87. He increased military spending and Japanese participation in international affairs, with closer ties to the USA. He was forced to resign his party post in May 1989 as a result of having profited from insider trading in the Recruit scandal...

nationalism
(politics) In politics, a movement that consciously aims to unify a nation, create a state, or free it from foreign or imperialistic rule. Nationalist movements became an important factor in European politics during the 19th century; since 1900 nationalism has become a strong force in Asia...

national insurance
In the UK, state social-security scheme that provides child allowances, maternity benefits, and payments to the unemployed, sick, and retired, and also covers medical treatment. It is paid for by weekly or monthly contributions from employees and employers

NAACP
Abbreviation for National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a US civil-rights organization

Nauru
Island country in Polynesia, southwest Pacific, west of Kiribati. Government The constitution dates from independence in 1968. It provides for a single-chamber parliament of 18 members, elected by universal suffrage for a three-year term, and a president who is both head of state and head of government. The president and cabinet are elected...

Naples, Kingdom of
The southern part of Italy, alternately independent and united with Sicily in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Naples was united with Sicily 1140–1282, first under Norman rule 1130–94, then Hohenstaufen 1194–1266, then Angevin from 1268; apart from Sicily, but under continued Angevin rule to 1435; reunited with Sicily 1442...

Navarino, Battle of
During the Greek war of liberation, destruction on 20 October 1827 of a joint Turkish–Egyptian fleet by the combined fleets of the British, French, and Russians under Vice-Admiral Edward Codrington (1770–1851). The destruction of their fleet left the Turks highly vulnerable in Greece as they had no protection to their rear and no supp...

NATO
Abbreviation for North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Navratilova, Martina
Czech tennis player who became a naturalized US citizen in 1981. The most outstanding woman player of the 1980s, she won 58 Grand Slam victories, including 18 singles titles. She won the Wimbledon singles title a record nine times, including six in succession 1982–87. Career highlights Wimbledon...

Nataraja
(`Lord of the Dance`) in Hinduism, a title of Shiva

National Health Service
UK government medical scheme; see health service

Najibullah, Ahmadzai
Afghan communist politician, leader of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1986, and state president 1986–92. Although his government initially survived the withdrawal of Soviet troops in February 1989, continuing pressure from the Mujahedin forces resulted in his eventual overthrow. He was executed in September 1996 b...

Naga
Member of any of the various peoples who inhabit the highland region near the Indian-Myanmar (Burma) border; they number approximately 800,000. These peoples do not possess a common name; some of the main groups are Ao, Konyak, Sangtam, Lhota, Sema, Rengma, Chang, and Angami. They live by farming, hunting, and fishing, with rice as the ...

Nagy, Imre
Hungarian politician, prime minister 1953–55 and 1956. He led the Hungarian revolt against Soviet domination in 1956, for which he was executed

National Curriculum
In England and Wales from 1988, a course of study in ten subjects common to all primary and secondary state schools. The National Curriculum is divided into three core subjects – English, maths, and science – and seven foundation subjects: geography, history, technology, a foreign language (for secondary school pupils), art, music, an...

National Insurance Act
UK act of Parliament of 1911, introduced by the Liberal chancellor Lloyd George, which first provided insurance for workers against ill health and unemployment

natural frequency
Frequency at which a mechanical system will vibrate freely. A pendulum, for example, always oscillates at the same frequency when set in motion. More complicated systems, such as bridges, also vibrate with a fixed natural frequency. If a varying force with a frequency equal to the natural frequency is applied to such an object the vibrations can be...

Nahyan, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-
Emir of Abu Dhabi 1969–2004 and first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) 1971–2004. Considered the father of his nation, he is credited with building a modern infrastructure and establishing the prosperity of the UAE during his rule. He was governor 1946–66 of the eastern province of Abu Dhabi, one of seven Trucial States in...

natural
In music, a sign placed in front of a note, cancelling a previous sharp or flat. A natural trumpet or horn is an instrument without valves, and can therefore only play natural harmonics

national security directive
In the USA, secret decree issued by the president that can establish national policy and commit federal funds without the knowledge of Congress, under the National Security Act 1947. The National Security Council alone decides whether these directives may be made public; most are not. The directives have been criticized as unconstitutional, sin...

Nassau agreement
Treaty signed on 18 December 1962 whereby the USA provided Britain with Polaris missiles, marking a strengthening in Anglo-American relations

Nazi–Soviet pact
Another name for the Ribbentrop–Molotov pact

Nakhichevan
(region) Autonomous region of Azerbaijan, an enclave within the neighbouring state of Armenia, located on the Iranian frontier and separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a narrow strip of Armenian territory; area 5,500 sq km/2,124 sq mi; population (1997 est) 333,200. The capital...

Nagorno-Karabakh
Autonomous region of Azerbaijan; area 4,400 sq km/1,700 sq mi; population (1997 est) 204,800 (77% Armenian, 23% Azeri), the Christian Armenians forming an enclave within the predominantly Shiite Muslim Azerbaijan. The capital is Xankändi. The region lies on the eastern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, partly covered...

Narmada
River that rises in the Maikala range in Madhya Pradesh state, central India, and flows 1,245 km/778 mi west and southwest to the Gulf of Khambat, an inlet of the Arabian Sea. Forming the traditional boundary between Hindustan and Deccan, the Narmada is a holy river of the Hindus. The Narmada Valley Project involves the building of over 3,000 d...

National Rivers Authority
UK government agency launched in 1989. It had responsibility for managing water resources, investigating and regulating pollution, and taking over flood controls and land drainage from the former ten regional water authorities of England and Wales. In April 1996, the NRA was replaced by the Environment Agency, having begun to establish a reputation...

National Endowment for Democracy
US political agency founded in 1983 with government backing. It has funded a range of political organizations abroad, with over 95% of its $114 million annual income coming from the US government after 1984. Recipients of funding include the Chilean Communist Party, Solidarity in Poland, the Social Christian Party in Costa Rica, and the ant...

nanotechnology
Experimental technology using individual atoms or molecules as the components of minute machines, measured by the nanometre, or millionth of a millimetre. Nanotechnology research in the 1990s focused on testing molecular structures and refining ways to manipulate atoms using a scanning tunnelling microscope. The ultimate aim is to create very small...

Nahuatl
Any of a group of Mesoamerican Indian peoples (Mexico and Central America), of which the best-known group were the Aztecs. The Nahuatl are the largest ethnic group in Mexico, and their languages, which belong to the Uto-Aztecan (Aztec-Tanoan) family, are spoken by over a million people to...

national service
Conscription into the armed services in peacetime

Nash,
(Frederic) US poet and wit. He published numerous volumes of humorous, quietly satirical light verse, characterized by unorthodox rhymes and puns. They include I'm a Stranger Here Myself (1938), Versus (1949), and Bed Riddance (1970)...

Nassau
Capital and chief port of the Bahamas, on New Providence Island; population (2000) 210,800. With its fine beaches, tropical vegetation, and resort developments, it is one of the world's leading tourist spots, especially in winter. It was the site in 1994 of an international conference on biol...

national grid
Click images to enlargeThe network of cables and wires, carried overhead on pylons or buried under the ground, that connects consumers of electrical energy to power stations, and interconnects the power stations. It ensures that power can be made available to all customers at any time, allowing demand to be shared by seve...

natural radioactivity
Radioactivity generated by those radioactive elements that exist in the Earth's crust. All the elements from polonium (atomic number 84) to uranium (atomic number 92) are radioactive. Radioisotopes of some lighter elements are also found in nature (for example potassium-40). See background radiation

natural justice
The concept that there is an inherent quality in law that compares favourably with arbitrary action by a government. It is largely associated with the idea of the rule of law. For natural justice to be present, it is generally argued that no one should be a judge in his or her own case, and that each party in a dispute has an unalienable right to b...

naturopathy
In alternative medicine, facilitating of the natural self-healing processes of the body. Naturopaths are the general practitioners (GPs) of alternative medicine and often refer clients to other specialists, particularly in manipulative therapies, to complement their own work of seeking, through d...

Nazarbayev, Nursultan Abishevich
Kazakh politician, president of Kazakhstan from 1990. Having gained a reputation as a `reform communist` in the 1980s, since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991 he encouraged the development of a free-market economy and Western investment in Kazakhstan's oilfields. He has taken a firm line against Islamic terrorism and religious...

National Security Council
US federal executive council that was established under the National Security Act of 1947. The statutory membership includes the president, vice-president, and secretaries of state and defence. Other officials, such as the directors of foreign operations administration and emergency planning, may attend by invitation of the president. Their spe...

natural gas
Mixture of flammable gases found in the Earth's crust (often in association with petroleum). It is one of the world's three main fossil fuels (with coal and oil). Natural gas, a non-renewable resource, is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals. As these plants and animals died they were buried with mud near the sea floor. Ov...

Narváez, Pánfilo de
Spanish conquistador and explorer. Narváez was largely responsible for bringing Cuba under Spanish control in 1511. The governor of Cuba sent him to Mexico in 1520 to reassert authority over Hernán Cortés. Defeated, he was held captive for two years. He drowned during an expedition to Florida after a fruitless detour for gold split h...