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poll tax

(Encyclopedia)poll tax, a capital tax levied equally on every adult in the community. Although no longer a significant source of revenue for any major country, the poll tax did provide large sums for many governmen...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

Czartoryski

(Encyclopedia)Czartoryski chärtôrĭsˈkē [key], Polish princely family. Although of ancient lineage, it rose to prominence only in the 17th cent., and in the 18th cent. during the reign of the Saxon kings of Pol...

Darwin

(Encyclopedia)Darwin, city, capital of the Northern Territory, N Australia, on Port Darwin, an inlet of the Timor Sea. Remotely situated on the sparsely settled north...

Chicago, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Chicago, river, formed in Chicago by the junction of its North Branch (24 mi/39 km long) and South Branch (10 mi/16 km long), and flowing southeast via a canal into the Des Plaines River at Lockport, ...

Falmouth, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Falmouth fălˈməth [key], town, Cornwall, SW England, on a small peninsula between Falmouth ...

Hawkins, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hawkins, Sir Richard, 1562?–1622, English admiral, son of Sir John Hawkins. He served under Sir Francis Drake in the 1585–86 expedition to the West Indies, commanded the Swallow in the defeat of t...

Grenville, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Grenville, Sir Richard, 1542?–1591, English naval hero. His cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, gave him command of the fleet of seven vessels carrying the first colonists to Roanoke Island in 1585. In 1591...

Jenkins's Ear, War of

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins's Ear, War of, 1739–41, struggle between England and Spain. It grew out of the commercial rivalry of the two powers and led to involvement in the larger War of the Austrian Succession. The i...

Noah

(Encyclopedia)Noah nōˈə [key] [Heb.,=to rest], in the Bible, the builder of the ark. Righteous Noah and his family were the only people God saved from a world sunk in sin. At divine direction Noah built the ship...