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Stafford

(Encyclopedia)Stafford, city (1991 pop. 60,915) and district, Staffordshire, W central England, on the Sow River, above its junction with the Trent. Stafford's chief industry is the manufacture of electrical goods;...

vending machine

(Encyclopedia)vending machine, coin-operated, automatic device for selling goods. Many vending machines are capable of making change, and some of the more sophisticated ones accept paper money or credit cards. The ...

Simon, William Edward

(Encyclopedia)Simon, William Edward, 1927–2000, U.S. secretary of the treasury (1974–77), b. Paterson, N.J. He served (1946–48) in the U.S. army in Japan, graduated from Lafayette College (1952), and became a...

Camborne-Redruth

(Encyclopedia)Camborne-Redruth kămˈbôrn, –bûrn, rĕdˈro͞oth [key], town, Cornwall, SW Engla...

Richardson, Sir Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, Sir Ralph, 1902–83, English stage and film actor. Since his first professional stage appearance in The Merchant of Venice (1921), Richardson has played a variety of classic and modern ro...

Perry, Rick

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Rick (James Richard Perry), 1950–, American politician, governor of Texas (2000–2015), b. Haskell, Tex. A fifth-generation Texan from the state's agricultural western plains, he attended Te...

Nottingham

(Encyclopedia)Nottingham, city and unitary authority (1991 pop. 273,300), central England, on the Trent River. A center of rail and road transportation, the city's most important industries are the manufacture of l...

Bible

(Encyclopedia)Bible [Gr.,=the books], term used since the 4th cent. to denote the Christian Scriptures and later, by extension, those of various religious traditions. This article discusses the nature of religious ...

Dyson, Sir Frank Watson

(Encyclopedia)Dyson, Sir Frank Watson dīˈsən [key], 1868–1939, English astronomer, b. Ashby-de-la-Zouch, grad. Cambridge. He was astronomer royal of Scotland (1905–10) and of England (from 1910). As director...

Chinon

(Encyclopedia)Chinon shēnôNˈ [key], town (1993 est. pop. 8,961), Indre-et-Loire dept., W central France, in Touraine, on the Vienne River. Chinon was an important medieval town and many buildings (notably three ...