Maria

Maria may refer to:

People

Fictional characters

Marie biscuit

A Marie is a type of sweet biscuit similar to a Rich tea biscuit. While the Rich tea biscuit is the most popular version of this biscuit in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man, it is the Marie version that is most popular in most other countries, particularly Australia, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Ukraine, Russia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil, Uruguay, Mauritius, Japan, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Panama, and Egypt.

Description

The biscuit is round and usually has its name embossed upon its top surface, the edges of which are also embossed with an intricate design. It is made with wheat flour, sugar, palm oil or sunflower seed oil and, unlike the Rich tea biscuit, is typically vanilla flavoured. In Norway it is labelled "Palm oil free" (Uten palmeolje).

History

The Marie biscuit was created by the London bakery Peek Freans in 1874 to commemorate the marriage of the Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to the Duke of Edinburgh. It became popular throughout Europe, particularly in Spain where, following the Civil War, the biscuit became a symbol of the country's economic recovery after bakeries produced mass quantities to consume a surplus of wheat.

María (Franco song)

"María" is a song written by Marcelo Molina and performed by Cuban singer Franco. It was released in 1988 as a single from Franco's album Definitivo and became his second number-one single in the Billboard Top Latin Songs chart, after "Toda La Vida" in 1986. It ended 1988 as the fourth best-performing single of the year.

References

Blanco

Blanco (white or blank in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to:

People

Fictional characters

Places

United States

Other countries

Multiple places

Music

Alberto Blanco

Luis Alberto Blanco Saavedra (born 8 January 1978) is a retired Panamanian football midfielder.

Club career

Nicknamed Satú, he started his career at hometown club San Francisco, then moved to Europe to play in the UEFA Champions League with Moldovan champions Sheriff Tiraspol where he played alongside compatriots Ubaldo Guardia and Roberto Brown. He then had a short stint at Russian outfit Alania Vladikavkaz before moving to the Middle East where he played for UAE side Al Ain and Al-Nasr in Saudi Arabia.

After spells at Plaza Amador and San Francisco, he moved abroad again when signing for Colombians Atlético Junior in February 2008. In 2009 he joined compatriot Alberto Zapata at Israeli team Maccabi Netanya, but left them in summer 2009.

On his return to Panama, he again played for San Francisco and Chorillo and joined Tauro in January 2011. He retired at second division side Atlético Nacional in 2013.

International career

Blanco made his debut for Panama in an October 1999 friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago and has earned a total of 60 caps, scoring 3 goals. He represented his country in 18 FIFA World Cup qualification matches and was a member of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup team, who finished second in the tournament and he also played at the 2007 and 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cups.

Blanco (compound)

Blanco was a compound used primarily by soldiers throughout the Commonwealth from 1880 onwards to clean and colour their equipment. It was first used by the British Army to whiten Slade Wallace buckskin leather equipment, and later adapted to coloured versions for use on the cotton Web Infantry Equipment, Pattern 1908 webbing. Blanco became widely used throughout both world wars.

Description

Blanco initially came in either powder manufactured by the Mills Equipment Company (who designed and were a primary manufacturer of the webbing it was used on), or round cake form, much like soap, manufactured by Pickerings and which used the tradename "Blanco" and was used as a cleaning and colouring compound. (The compound was manufactured in Canada as "Capo".) Capo is an abbreviation for "Canadian Colouring Compound". Blanco was applied with a brush and water, and rubbed into the woven cotton material of load bearing equipment, to provide a consistent colour to equipment worn by soldiers in the same unit, and as a method of cleaning the gear. Post-war experimental rectangular waxy blocks became available with greater waterproofing abilities but after 1954 Joseph Pickering & Sons Ltd introduced a tinned paste product that didn't need the addition of water and could be applied directly from the tin. Other manufacturers made competing tinned paste products until the 1980s.