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steamship

(Encyclopedia)steamship, watercraft propelled by a steam engine or a steam turbine. Despite such innovations as turbo-electric drive, which converts steam energy into rotational power for turning the propeller...

steamboat

(Encyclopedia)steamboat: see steamship.

Georgia, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Georgia, Strait of, channel, c.150 mi (240 km) long, between the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, Canada, between Puget Sound and Queen Charlotte Sound. It forms part of the inland s...

Fulton, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Fulton, Robert, 1765–1815, American inventor, engineer, and painter, b. near Lancaster, Pa. He was a man remarkable for his many talents and his mechanical genius. An expert gunsmith at the time of ...

Cunard, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Cunard, Sir Samuel kyo͞onärdˈ [key], 1787–1865, Canadian pioneer of regular transatlantic steam navigation, b. Halifax, N.S. The son of a United Empire Loyalist, he became a leading businessman o...

clipper

(Encyclopedia)clipper, type of sailing ship, designed for speed. Long and narrow, the clipper had the greatest beam aft of the center; the bow cleaved the waves; and the ship carried, besides topgallant and royal s...

Grace, William Russell

(Encyclopedia)Grace, William Russell, 1832–1904, American financier, b. Queenstown, Ireland. He was in business in England and Peru before establishing (1865) W. R. Grace & Company in New York City. After Per...

Saimaa

(Encyclopedia)Saimaa sīˈmä [key], lake system c.1,850 sq mi (4,790 sq km), occupying the heavily glaciated plateau of S central Finland. It comprises more than 120 connecting lakes; the large southern basin of t...

Ceiba, La

(Encyclopedia)Ceiba, La lä sāˈbä [key], city (1997 est. pop. 96,000), N Honduras, capital of Atlántida dept., on the Caribbean Sea. It is the commercial and processing center of a rich agricultural region domi...

Keith, Minor Cooper

(Encyclopedia)Keith, Minor Cooper, 1848–1929, American magnate, a founder of the United Fruit Company, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. In the face of incredible hardships he built (1871–90) a railroad from the port of Limón...

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