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Imperial College London

(Encyclopedia)Imperial College London, officially The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, England, est. 1907 through the merger of the Royal College (1845), Royal School of Mines (1851), a...

Airy, Sir George Biddell

(Encyclopedia)Airy, Sir George Biddell, 1801–92, English astronomer. The son of a poor farmer, he distinguished himself as Senior Wrangler at Cambridge, where he was elected fellow of Trinity College (1824) and a...

Kew Gardens

(Encyclopedia)Kew Gardens kyo͞o [key], Kew, Surrey, S England, on the Thames just W of London; Royal Botanic Gardens is the official name. The gardens were founded by the dowager princess of Wales in 1761 and cons...

Cade, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Cade, Jack, d. 1450, English rebel. Of his life very little is known. He may have been of Irish birth; some of his followers called him John Mortimer and claimed he was a cousin of Richard, duke of Yo...

Ranković, Aleksandar

(Encyclopedia)Ranković, Aleksandar älĕksänˈdär ränkōvĭˈtyə [key], 1909–83, Yugoslav political leader. A Serbian, he joined the Yugoslav Communist party in 1928 and later became (1937) a member of its c...

Paul-Boncour, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Paul-Boncour, Joseph zhôzĕfˈ pōl-bôNko͞orˈ [key], 1873–1972, French statesman. Although a Socialist, he remained independent of party ties from 1931 to 1945. He was permanent French delegate ...

Simenon, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Simenon, Georges zhôrzh sēmənôNˈ [key], 1903–89, Belgian novelist. One of the most prolific of modern authors, he is best known for the more than 75 stories he wrote featuring the intuitive Fre...

South Yorkshire

(Encyclopedia)South Yorkshire, former metropolitan county, N central England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Sheffield conurbation and comprised four metropolitan distr...

cowboys

(Encyclopedia)cowboys, in American history. 1 Tory marauders, adherents to the British cause in the American Revolution, who fought in the contested area of Westchester co., N.Y. Their opposite numbers, who favored...

chariot

(Encyclopedia)chariot, earliest and simplest type of carriage and the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples. The chariot was known among the Babylonians before the introduction of horses c.2000 b.c. and was first d...