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United States Merchant Marine Academy

(Encyclopedia)United States Merchant Marine Academy, at Kings Point, N.Y.; for the training of merchant marine officers; established 1936, opened 1943. The academy became coeducational in 1974. Candidates must be b...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

Channel Islands, British dependency

(Encyclopedia)Channel Islands, archipelago (2015 est. pop. 164,000), 75 sq mi (194 sq km), 10 mi (16 km) off the coast of Normandy, France, in the English Channel. The main islands are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, a...

Porter, David

(Encyclopedia)Porter, David, 1780–1843, American naval officer, b. Boston. Appointed a midshipman in 1798, he served in the West Indies and in the war with Tripoli. In 1803 his ship, the Philadelphia, was capture...

Liberal Democrats, British political party

(Encyclopedia)Liberal Democrats, British political party created in 1988 by the merger of the Liberal party with the Social Democratic party; the party was initially called the Social and Liberal Democratic party. ...

sloop

(Encyclopedia)sloop, fore-and-aft-rigged, single-masted sailing vessel with a single headsail jib. A sloop differs from a cutter in that it has a jibstay—a support leading from the bow to the masthead on which th...

galleon

(Encyclopedia)galleon, oceangoing warship used by the European naval powers in the 15th and 16th cent. A large, cumbersome vessel, the galleon was three-masted and square-rigged, usually with two decks, and with it...

Hamilton, Sir William, British diplomat and archaeologist

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Sir William, 1730–1803, British diplomat and archaeologist, ambassador to Naples (1764–1800). He was the husband of Emma, Lady Hamilton, mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson. His fine coll...

Major, John, 1943–, British politician

(Encyclopedia)Major, John, 1943–, British statesman, b. John Major Ball. Raised in a working-class area of London, he was elected to Lambeth borough council (1968–71) and entered Parliament as a Conservative in...

Brutus, legendary founder of the British race

(Encyclopedia)Brutus, legendary founder of the British race: see Brut. ...