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Block Island

(Encyclopedia)Block Island, 7 mi (11.2 km) long and 3.5 mi (5.6 km) wide, off S R.I. at the eastern entrance to Long Island Sound. Visited by the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block in 1614, it was settled in 1661. The m...

Block, Adriaen

(Encyclopedia)Block, Adriaen, fl. 1610–24, Dutch navigator. Eager to establish a fur trade with the Native Americans, Amsterdam merchants sent (1613) Block and another Dutch navigator to explore the region discov...

block book

(Encyclopedia)block book. Before and after the invention of printing from movable types in the mid-15th cent., some books were printed in Europe from engraved wooden blocks, with one block for each page. This metho...

block printing

(Encyclopedia)block printing: see textile printing under textiles. ...

linoleum block printing

(Encyclopedia)linoleum block printing or linocut, 20th-century development in the art of relief cuts. The linoleum block consists of a thin layer of linoleum mounted on wood; in this the design to be printed is cut...

Block, Herbert Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Block, Herbert Lawrence, 1909–2001, American editorial cartoonist known as Herblock, b. Chicago. A superb stylist and generally a political liberal, Herblock began drawing cartoons (1929–33) for t...

block and tackle

(Encyclopedia)block and tackle: see pulley.

island

(Encyclopedia)island, relatively small body of land surrounded entirely by water. (As the oceans form a continuous mass of water on the earth's surface, all continents are islands in the strict sense of the word.) ...

Point Judith

(Encyclopedia)Point Judith, promontory extending into Block Island Sound, S R.I., in the town of Narragansett. A U.S. Coast Guard station and a lighthouse are there. ...

Hell Gate

(Encyclopedia)Hell Gate, narrow channel of the East River, SE N.Y., between Wards Island and Astoria, Queens, New York City. Named Hellegat by the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block, who passed through it into Long Isla...