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Telford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Telford, Thomas, 1757–1834, Scottish civil engineer. He greatly improved road building in England and Scotland. He introduced the use of a base of large stones surfaced with compacted layers of smal...

Sint-Truiden

(Encyclopedia)Sint-Truiden sĭnt-troiˈdən [key], Fr. Saint-Trond, town (1991 pop. 36,994), Limburg prov., E Belgium. It is primarily an industrial center but is noted for its cherries. Sint-Truiden developed arou...

Boston Public Library

(Encyclopedia)Boston Public Library, founded in 1848, chiefly through the gift of Joshua Bates, and opened to the public in 1854. It is the oldest free public city library supported by taxation in the world and the...

Saint Albans, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Saint Albans sŭnt ôlˈbənz [key], city and district (1991 pop. 76,709), Hertfordshire, E central England. The market city of Saint Albans has printing, engineering, and clothing industries. Many of...

Drinkwater, John

(Encyclopedia)Drinkwater, John, 1882–1937, English author. A founder of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, he was associated with it as actor, director, and general manager for many years. He is best known for his...

Houbraken, Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Houbraken, Arnold ärˈnōlt houˈbräˌkən [key], 1660–1719, Dutch painter, etcher, and author of The Great Theatre of Dutch Painters (3 vol., 1718–21), containing important biographies. His son...

Hollywood

(Encyclopedia)Hollywood. 1 Community (2020 population 35,757) within the city of Los Angeles, S Calif., on the slopes of the Santa Monica Mts.; inc. 1903, ...

Asser

(Encyclopedia)Asser ăsˈər [key], d. 909, Welsh clergyman, monk of St. David's Abbey, Pembrokeshire. He went c.884 to the court of King Alfred, helped Alfred learn Latin, and later was made a bishop. He is rememb...

benedictine

(Encyclopedia)benedictine bĕnədĭkˈtēn [key], sweet liqueur originated in 1510 by Benedictine monks at Fécamp, France, and now manufactured by a secular concern on the grounds of the old abbey. Every bottle be...

Banks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Thomas, 1735–1805, English neoclassical sculptor, studied at the Royal Academy. A traveling scholarship enabled him to study in Rome from 1772 to 1779. In 1781 he went to Russia, where Cather...