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Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

National Radio Astronomy Observatory

(Encyclopedia)National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), federal observatory for radio astronomy, founded in 1956 and operated under contract with the National Science Foundation by Associated Universities, Inc.,...

Royal Gorge

(Encyclopedia)Royal Gorge, 10 mi (16 km) long, narrow canyon cut by the Arkansas River, S central Colo., often called the Grand Canyon of the Arkansas. The gorge was discovered in 1806 by an expedition led by U.S. ...

Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory sāˈrō tōlōˈlō [key], astronomical observatory located on Cerro Tololo peak, Chile, with offices in La Serena, about 40 mi (64 km) to the west. Funded by ...

Bradley, James

(Encyclopedia)Bradley, James, 1693–1762, English astronomer. His discovery of the aberration of light, announced in 1728, provided an important line of evidence for the motion of the earth around the sun. In 1742...

Bethlem Royal Hospital

(Encyclopedia)Bethlem Royal Hospital bĕthˈləm [key], the oldest institution for the care and confinement of the mentally ill in England, and one of the oldest in Europe. A priory in 1247, the building was conver...

Royal Leamington Spa

(Encyclopedia)Royal Leamington Spa lĕmˈĭngtən [key], town (1991 pop. 42,953), Warwickshire, central England, on the Leam River, a tributary of the Avon. The town, with its mineral springs, is primarily a health...

Royal Tunbridge Wells

(Encyclopedia)Royal Tunbridge Wells, town (1991 pop. 57,699), Kent, SE England. Mineral springs were discovered in 1606, and the town developed as a fashionable inland resort. Visitors have included many of the roy...

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