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Decatur, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Decatur, Stephen dēkāˈtər [key], 1779–1820, American naval officer, b. Sinepuxent, near Berlin, Md.; son of a naval officer, Stephen Decatur. After joining the U.S. navy in 1798, he rose to fame...

Onions, C. T.

(Encyclopedia)Onions, C. T. (Charles Talbut Onions), 1873–1965, English philologist, lexicographer, author, and editor. After a post with British Naval Intelligence in World War I, he held a fellowship at Magdale...

Downs, The

(Encyclopedia)Downs, The, roadstead, c.8 mi (13 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, between North Foreland and South Foreland, off Deal, Kent, SE England, in the English Channel. It is protected, except from strong so...

Elliott, Jesse Duncan

(Encyclopedia)Elliott, Jesse Duncan, 1782–1845, American naval officer, b. Hagerstown, Md. In the War of 1812, he helped capture two British vessels on Lake Erie and was made commander of the lake. He began build...

battleship

(Encyclopedia)battleship, large, armored warship equipped with the heaviest naval guns. The evolution of the battleship, from the ironclad warship of the mid-19th cent., received great impetus from the Civil War. B...

Laughton, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Laughton, Charles, 1899–1962, Anglo-American actor, b. Scarborough, England. A large, versatile character actor, Laughton was successful both in films and on the stage. In The Private Life of Henry ...

Challenger expedition

(Encyclopedia)Challenger expedition, British oceanographic expedition under the direction of the Scottish professor Charles Wyville Thompson and the British naturalist Sir John Murray. Taking place from 1872 to 187...

Matapan, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Matapan, Cape tâˈnärôn [key], S Greece, southern extremity of the Greek mainland, of the Peloponnesus, and of the Taygetus Mts., projecting into the Ionian Sea. It was known to the ancients as Tae...

Coronel

(Encyclopedia)Coronel kōrōnĕlˈ [key], S central Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Part of the Great C...

Stonington

(Encyclopedia)Stonington stōnˈĭngtən [key], town (1990 pop. 16,919), New London co., extreme SE Conn., on a peninsula jutting into Long Island Sound; settled 1649 from Plymouth, inc. 1662. Fishing has declined,...