Oct 19, 2022 · Massachusetts Bay Colony, one of the original English settlements in present-day Massachusetts, settled in 1630 by a group of about 1,000 Puritan refugees from England under Gov. John Winthrop and Deputy Gov. Thomas Dudley. In 1629 the Massachusetts Bay Company had obtained from King Charles I a charter empowering the company to trade and …

Nov 30, 2022 · London, city, capital of the United Kingdom. It is among the oldest of the world’s great cities—its history spanning nearly two millennia—and one of the most cosmopolitan. By far Britain’s largest metropolis, it is also the country’s economic, transportation, and cultural centre. London is situated in southeastern England, lying astride the River Thames some 50 miles …

Bedlam, byname of Bethlem Royal Hospital, the first asylum for the mentally ill in England. It is currently located in Beckenham, Kent. The word bedlam came to be used generically for all psychiatric hospitals and sometimes is used colloquially for an uproar. In 1247 the asylum was founded at Bishopsgate, just outside the London wall, by Simon FitzMary, former sheriff of …

Oct 28, 2022 · Cambridge, city (district), administrative and historic county of Cambridgeshire, England, home of the internationally known University of Cambridge. The city lies immediately south of the Fens country (a flat alluvial region only slightly above sea level) and is itself only 20 to 80 feet (6 to 24 metres) above sea level. Most of the city is built on the east bank of the River …

The hot (115 °F [46 °C]) mineral springs on the site attracted the Romans, who founded Bath as Aquae Sulis, dedicated to the goddess Sulis Minerva, an amalgamation of Celtic (Sul) and Roman deities.The Saxons built an abbey on the site where in 973 ce Edgar was crowned the first king of all England. The Normans subsequently rebuilt the church between 1088 and 1122, …

Nov 25, 2022 · Oxford, city (district), administrative and historic county of Oxfordshire, England. It is best known as the home of the University of Oxford. Situated between the upper River Thames (known in Oxford as the Isis) and the Cherwell, just north of their confluence, the town was first occupied in Saxon times as a fording point. Earlier peoples had spurned the valley …

Separatist, also called Independent, any of the English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who wished to separate from the perceived corruption of the Church of England and form independent local churches. Separatists were most influential politically in England during the time of the Commonwealth (1649–60) under Oliver Cromwell, the lord protector, who was …

textile, any filament, fibre, or yarn that can be made into fabric or cloth, and the resulting material itself. The term is derived from the Latin textilis and the French texere, meaning “to weave,” and it originally referred only to woven fabrics. It has, however, come to include fabrics produced by other methods. Thus, threads, cords, ropes, braids, lace, embroidery, nets, and fabrics ...

Outside Germany other organizations were also created. For example, in 1914 the British Society for the Study of Sex Psychology was founded by Edward Carpenter and Havelock Ellis for both promotional and educational purposes, and in the United States in 1924 Henry Gerber, an immigrant from Germany, founded the Society for Human Rights, which was chartered by the …

Magna Carta, English Great Charter, charter of English liberties granted by King John on June 15, 1215, under threat of civil war and reissued, with alterations, in 1216, 1217, and 1225. By declaring the sovereign to be subject to the rule of law and documenting the liberties held by “free men,” the Magna Carta provided the foundation for individual rights in Anglo-American …