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Baker, Sir Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Sir Benjamin, 1840–1907, English civil engineer. He helped build London's underground railway, Tower Bridge, and the Blackwall Tunnel, and with Sir John Fowler he designed and built the bridg...

Port Colborne

(Encyclopedia)Port Colborne kōlˈbərn [key], town (1991 pop. 18,766), S Ont., Canada, on Lake Erie, at the south end of the Welland Ship Canal. It is an important transshipment center between Montreal and points ...

mast

(Encyclopedia)mast, large metal or timber pole secured vertically or nearly vertically in a ship, used primarily for supporting sails and rigging. The mast is as old as sailing vessels, and the oldest sailboats dep...

Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md. He had seen years of merchant service before he became (1798) a lieutenant in the new U.S. navy. He served in the Tripolitan War...

Bounty, British naval vessel

(Encyclopedia)Bounty, British naval vessel, a 220-ton (200-metric-ton), 85-ft (26-m) cutter, commanded by William Bligh. She set sail for the Pacific in Dec., 1787, to transport breadfruit trees from the Society Is...

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the...

Jonathan, Joseph Leabua

(Encyclopedia)Jonathan, Joseph Leabua jŏnˈəthən [key], 1914–87, prime minister of Lesotho (1965–86). He founded (1959) and led the Basutoland National party working for separate independence from Great Bri...

Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe

(Encyclopedia)Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe bāˈlər [key], 1793?–1873, American jurist, founder of Baylor Univ., b. Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812, studied law, and served in the Kentucky legislature. M...

Cortes

(Encyclopedia)Cortes kôrˈtĕz, Span. kōrˈtās [key], representative assembly in Spain. The institution originated (12th–13th cent.) in various Spanish regions with the Christian reconquest; until the 19th cen...

Lancaster House conference

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster House conference, series of three meetings (1960, 1962, 1963) in which Kenya's constitutional framework and independence were negotiated. In 1960 lack of agreement led Colonial Secretary McL...