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Newbury

(Encyclopedia)Newbury, town (1991 pop. 31,488), West Berkshire, S central England. In a farming region, Newbury trades in wool, malt, and farm products. Paper, furniture, and metal products are also made. In the Mi...

O'Brien, Fitz-James

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, Fitz-James, 1828?–1862, Irish-American author and journalist, b. Ireland. He settled in New York in 1852. He is remembered for two of his short stories, “The Diamond Lens” and “The Wo...

Bellows, Henry Whitney

(Encyclopedia)Bellows, Henry Whitney, 1814–82, American clergyman, b. Boston. From 1839 until his death he was pastor of the First Congregational Society, Unitarian (later Church of All Souls) in New York City. B...

Smyrna, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Smyrna, city (1990 pop. 30,981), Cobb co., NW Ga., a residential suburb of Atlanta; inc. 1872. Manufactures include computer equipment, building materials, plastics, ordnance, and chemicals. Originall...

Balls Bluff

(Encyclopedia)Balls Bluff, hill on the south bank of the Potomac River, near Leesburg, Va. In the Civil War, Union troops who had crossed the river were severely repulsed there on Oct. 21, 1861. Dissatisfaction wit...

sidereal year

(Encyclopedia)sidereal year, time required for the earth to complete an orbit of the sun relative to the stars. The sidereal year is 365 days, 6 hr, 9 min, 9.5 sec of mean solar time (see solar time). It is 20 min ...

day

(Encyclopedia)day, period of time for the earth to rotate once on its axis. The ordinary day, or solar day, is measured relative to the sun, being the time between successive passages of the sun over a stationary o...

jury

(Encyclopedia)jury, body convened to make decisions of fact in legal proceedings. In most criminal cases the charge is first considered by a grand jury with 12 to 23 members. It hears witnesses against the accus...

Joseph II

(Encyclopedia)Joseph II, 1741–90, Holy Roman emperor (1765–90), king of Bohemia and Hungary (1780–90), son of Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I, whom he succeeded. He was the first emperor of the...

Edgehill

(Encyclopedia)Edgehill or Edge Hill, ridge on the border of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, central England, NW of Banbury. A tower built in 1760 marks the scene of the first great battle of the English civil war, Oc...