Presidency
Madison won election as president in
1808. He was reelected in 1812. That
year the United States entered the War
of 1812 against Great Britain. The
United States won some victories at sea
but lost many land battles. In August
1814 the British invadedWashington,
D.C., and burned the White House.
March 16, June 28,
1751 1787 1803 1808 1812 1817 1836
Madison is
born in Port
Conway,
Virginia.
Madison
attends the
Constitutional
Convention.
Madison helps
make the
Louisiana
Purchase.
Madison is
elected
president.
The War of
1812 begins.
Madison
retires to his
plantation.
Madison dies
in Montpelier,
Virginia.
T I M E L I N E
James Madison
12 Madison, James BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
When the war ended in 1814, there was
no clear winner.
Retirement
Madison retired to Montpelier in 1817.
He supported Jefferson in founding the
University of Virginia. He also worked
to end slavery. Madison died on June
28, 1836.
..More to explore
American Revolution • Bill of Rights
• Constitution • Continental Congress
• Jefferson, Thomas • Louisiana
Purchase • United States •War of 1812
Madrid
Population
(2007
estimate), city,
3,132,463;
urban area,
5,764,000
Madrid is the capital of Spain, a country
of western Europe. It is Spain’s largest
city. It is also a major center of the arts,
education, business, industry, and transportation.
Places of Interest
The heart of Madrid is a plaza called the
Puerta del Sol (Door of the Sun). From
this plaza spread the city’s busiest streets.
Madrid’s older section centers around
the Plaza Mayor. It is a large square built
in the 1600s.
Madrid has many museums. The Prado
Museum is one of the most important
art museums in Europe. It is best known
for its paintings by the Spanish artists
Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya.
Economy
Madrid is Spain’s center for banking and
insurance. Construction and service
industries such as tourism and publishing
also bring money to the city. Many
Spanish businesses have their headquarters
in Madrid. Manufacturing is also
important. Factories in Madrid make
such products as cars, airplanes, electronics,
plastics, and rubber.
History
People have lived in the Madrid area for
thousands of years. By the 900s it was a
small fortress town of Muslims from
northern Africa. A Spanish Christian
king named Alfonso VI captured the
town in 1083.
Madrid’s Plaza Mayor is a
popular meeting place.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Madrid 13
Madrid remained small and unimportant
until it became the Spanish capital.
In 1561 King Philip II made it the center
of his royal government. In 1607
King Philip III made Madrid the official
capital of Spain.
France controlled Madrid for a few years
in the early 1800s. During the Spanish
CivilWar (1936–39) Madrid suffered
heavy bombing.
Madrid grew greatly in the second half
of the 1900s. It also became the target of
several terrorist attacks. In 2004 almost
200 people were killed when terrorists
bombed several trains in the city.
#More to explore
Spain • Spanish CivilWar
Magazine
A magazine is a printed collection of
writings that is published a certain number
of times a year. Many magazines are
published monthly or weekly. Magazines
typically contain articles, pictures, and
letters from readers. They often are
printed on glossy, high-quality paper.
Magazines are more up-to-date than
books but more permanent than newspapers.
The most recently published magazines
are called current issues. Magazines sold
on newsstands and in stores are generally
current issues. Older issues, called back
issues, can be found in libraries or on
the Internet.
Types of Magazines
There are many kinds of magazines.
Magazines such as Time and Newsweek
are meant for many different readers.
They cover news, business,
entertainment, and other subjects.
Other magazines focus on one subject.
For instance, National Geographic covers
geography, and Wired discusses
computers. Many magazines are aimed
at a certain group, such as teenage girls
or African Americans.
Digests are collections of articles on a
number of different subjects. Reader’s
Digest is probably the most popular of
this type of magazine.
Scientific or scholarly magazines are
often called journals. Professors usually
read and write them, and universities
often publish them.
Magazines
are also called
periodicals.
Stone Soup is a magazine by
and for children. The stories,
poems, and illustrations in the
magazine are created by children
themselves.
14 Magazine BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Some people make their own magazines
at a low cost. These publications, called
zines, are often copied on regular paper
and stapled together. Beginning in the
1990s, many people put their zines on
the Internet.
History
The invention of the printing press in
the middle of the 1400s made magazines
possible. One of the earliest magazines
was published in Germany in the 1660s.
A few years later specialized magazines
on the arts and sciences appeared in
England and France. The French magazine
Le Mercure galant, first published in
1672, was the first magazine meant for
entertainment.
Many magazines on politics and
literature appeared during the 1700s.
Some of the greatest writers of this
