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Mayflower Compact

(Encyclopedia)Mayflower Compact, in U.S. colonial history, an agreement providing for the temporary government of Plymouth Colony. The compact was signed (1620) on board the Mayflower by the adult male passengers; ...

Mayflower, ship

(Encyclopedia)Mayflower, ship that in 1620 brought the Pilgrims from England to New England. She set out from Southampton in company with the Speedwell, the vessel that had borne some of the English separatists fro...

compact disc

(Encyclopedia)compact disc (CD), a small plastic disc used for the storage of digital data. As originally developed for audio systems, the sound signal is sampled at a rate of 44,100 times a second, then each sampl...

Carver, John

(Encyclopedia)Carver, John, c.1576–1621, first governor of Plymouth Colony. A wealthy London merchant, in 1609 he emigrated to Holland, where he soon joined the Pilgrims at Leiden. His excellent character and his...

mayflower, in botany

(Encyclopedia)mayflower, in botany, name for several spring-blooming plants. In England the hawthorn is called mayflower, or may; in North America the name is used for the trailing arbutus, the hepatica, and an her...

Plymouth Colony

(Encyclopedia)Plymouth Colony, settlement made by the Pilgrims on the coast of Massachusetts in 1620. After several years the colonists could no longer be restrained from settling on the more productive land to t...

Delaware River Basin Compact

(Encyclopedia)Delaware River Basin Compact dĕlˈəwâr, –wər [key], providing for the utilization and development of the water resources of the Delaware River basin. In 1961 the federal government and the state...

Pilgrims

(Encyclopedia)Pilgrims, in American history, the group of separatists and other individuals who were the founders of Plymouth Colony. The name Pilgrim Fathers is given to those members who made the first crossing o...

Family Compact, in Canadian history

(Encyclopedia)Family Compact, name popularly applied to a small, powerful group of men who dominated the government of Upper Canada (Ontario) from the closing years of the 18th cent. to the beginnings of responsibl...

CD, abbreviation for compact disc

(Encyclopedia)CD: see compact disc.