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Downs, The

(Encyclopedia)Downs, The, roadstead, c.8 mi (13 km) long and 6 mi (9.7 km) wide, between North Foreland and South Foreland, off Deal, Kent, SE England, in the English Channel. It is protected, except from strong so...

Côtes-d'Armor

(Encyclopedia)Côtes-d'Armor –dü-nôr [key], department, NW France, in Brittany, on the English Channel. ...

Plymouth Sound

(Encyclopedia)Plymouth Sound, deep inlet of the English Channel, Devon and Cornwall, SW England. It is a famous roadstead and forms a bay c.3 mi (5 km) wide. It receives the Tamar River through the Hamoaze estuary ...

Somme, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Somme, river, c.150 mi (240 km) long, rising near Saint-Quentin, N France, and flowing generally NW past Amiens into the English Channel; connected by canal with the Scheldt and Oise rivers. Once an o...

Dieppe

(Encyclopedia)Dieppe dēĕpˈ [key], city, Seine-Maritime dept., N France, in Normandy, at the mouth of the...

Boulogne-sur-Mer

(Encyclopedia)Boulogne-sur-Mer bo͞olôˈnyə-sür-mĕrˈ [key], city, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France, in Picardy, on the English ...

information theory

(Encyclopedia)information theory or communication theory, mathematical theory formulated principally by the American scientist Claude E. Shannon to explain aspects and problems of information and communication. Whi...

Purbeck, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Purbeck, Isle of, peninsula, c.12 mi (20 km) long and c.8 mi (13 km) wide, Dorset, S England, between Poole Harbour and the English Channel. St. Albans Head is the most southerly point of the rocky sh...

Avranches

(Encyclopedia)Avranches ävräNshˈ [key], town, Manche dept., NW France, in Normandy, on the English Channel. Because of its proximity to the rocky island of Mont-Saint-Michel, Avranch...

Blanchard, Jean Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Blanchard, Jean Pierre fräNswäˈ [key], 1753–1809, French balloonist. In 1785 he made with Dr. John Jeffries of Boston, Mass., the first crossing by air of the English Channel. His ascents at Phil...