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Dover, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Dover, Strait of, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the English Channel with the North Sea. It is 21 mi (34 km) wide between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, and is called Pas-d...

Utrecht, Peace of

(Encyclopedia)Utrecht, Peace of, series of treaties that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession. It put an end to French expansion and signaled the rise of the British Empire. By the treaty between England and...

Sussex, Thomas Radcliffe, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Sussex, Thomas Radcliffe, 3d earl of, 1526?–1583, English nobleman. Styled Viscount Fitzwalter after his father became (1542) the 2d earl of Sussex, he served in the army in France and on diplomatic...

Embargo Act of 1807

(Encyclopedia)Embargo Act of 1807, passed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S. merch...

Saint James's Palace

(Encyclopedia)Saint James's Palace, in Westminster, London, England, on St. James's Street and fronting on Pall Mall. Henry VIII built the palace and established the park around it. It was the London royal residenc...

Curran, John Philpot

(Encyclopedia)Curran, John Philpot kŭrˈən [key], 1750–1817, Irish statesman and orator. He became the best-known trial lawyer in Dublin when he was still very young and entered the Irish Parliament in 1783. He...

Old Vic

(Encyclopedia)Old Vic, London repertory company and theater. The Old Vic theater opened in 1818 as the Coburg, and was renamed the Royal Victoria in 1833, soon familiarized to the Old Vic. In 1914 it became a Shake...

Gladstone, William Ewart

(Encyclopedia)Gladstone, William Ewart, 1809–98, British statesman, the dominant personality of the Liberal party from 1868 until 1894. A great orator and a master of finance, he was deeply religious and brought ...

Saint Helier

(Encyclopedia)Saint Helier sānt hĕlˈyər, Fr. săNtālyāˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 24,941), capital of Jersey, Channel Islands, Great Britain, on St. Aubin's Bay. The administrative and cultural center of Jersey...

Washington, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Washington, Treaty of, May, 1871, agreement concluded between the United States and Great Britain in Washington, D.C. Its principal articles provided for determination of the Alabama claims by an inte...