Manchester

Manchester, city, England

Manchester (măn`chəstər, –chĕs'tər), city and metropolitan district (1991 pop. 397,400), NW England, on the Irwell, Medlock, Irk, and Tib rivers. Manchester remains the center of the most densely populated area of England, despite the tremendous amount of outmigration between 1961 and 1981. It has been engaged in building new towns and complexes since the 1970s. Long the leading textile city (its textile industry dates back to the 14th cent.) of England, the late 20th cent. has seen a sharp drop in Manchester's textile-based economy. Other industries, especially chemical and pharmaceutical production and research industries, have moved to fill the void. It is also the center of printing and publishing in N England. Ringway is Manchester's international airport.

A Celtic settlement is believed to have existed on the site of Manchester. The Romans called the town Mancunium, and there are remains of their occupation. Manchester's first charter was granted in 1301. Representation in Parliament was achieved in 1832, and in 1838, thanks to the efforts of Richard Cobden, Manchester was incorporated as a borough.

The Peterloo massacre occurred in Manchester in 1819, and the city has played a prominent role in liberal reform movements. The influential liberal daily the Manchester Guardian was founded in 1821. Manchester was the center of the Manchester school of economics and the Anti-Corn-Law League, led by Cobden and John Bright.

The first application of steam to machinery for spinning cotton was made in Manchester in 1789, and a terminus of the first English passenger railroad (to Liverpool) was constructed here by George Stephenson in 1830. The Manchester Ship Canal, opened in 1894, gave the city access to the sea. After World War I the artificial-silk industry tended to balance losses in the cotton market. The first municipal airport in Britain was established at Manchester in 1929. During World War II, Manchester suffered extensively from air raids.

The city has several libraries, including the John Rylands Library (founded 1899) and the Chetham Library (founded 1653), one of Europe's first free public libraries. The Univ. of Manchester, which has its origins in the Manchester Mechanics' Institute (1824) and Owens College (1851), is Britain's largest single-site university; the Univ. of Salford also is located there. Manchester has been an important center for scientific research. John Dalton, Lord Rutherford, and Niels Bohr, among others, did significant work in nuclear physics there. At Jodrell Bank, nearby, is a large radio telescope, once the world's largest. Manchester has several art galleries; a symphony orchestra of international repute, the Hallé Orchestra, founded in 1857 by Sir Charles Hallé; and the striking Imperial War Museum North. Robert Peel, the statesman, and Thomas de Quincy, the author, were born in Manchester.

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Manchester, cities, United States

Manchester.

1 Town (1990 pop. 51,618), Hartford co., central Conn.; settled c.1672, inc. 1823. Its sawmills and paper mills date from before the Revolutionary War. The city was also known for its production of grandfather clocks. Contemporary manufactures include automobile parts, tools, and dairy and paper products. Hartford's Bradley International Airport is located nearby.

2 City (1990 pop. 99,567), Hillsboro co., S N.H., on both sides of the Merrimack River; settled 1722, inc. as a city 1846. It is the largest city in New Hampshire. Among its various manufactures are computer and electronic equipment, machinery, lobster holding systems, foods and beverages, clothing, hats, industrial brushes, and medical supplies. In 1838 textile interests founded the city and established a huge textile-manufacturing company; Amoskeag Falls on the Merrimack provided power for the first textile mills. Until the depression of the 1930s and the moving of much of the textile industry to the south, Manchester was heavily dependent on the industry. St. Anselm College, a branch of the Univ. of New Hampshire, and the Currier Gallery of Art are there. John Stark lived and is buried in Manchester. A number of ski areas are in the vicinity.

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Manchester

City and metropolitan borough (pop., 1999: 431,000), in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, northwestern England. Lying northwest of London and east of Liverpool, it was the site of a Roman fort (AD 78–86) but was abandoned after the 4th century. By 919 the town of Manchester had sprung up nearby. In the 16th century it was important in the wool trade, and with the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century it became an important manufacturing city known for its textile production. The world's first modern railroad, the Liverpool and Manchester, opened in 1830. The city was beset by urban and industrial problems in the second half of the 20th century; thereafter it was redeveloped, ushering in a cultural renaissance. Its many educational institutions include the University of Manchester.

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Manchester

City (pop., 2000: 107,006), southern New Hampshire, U.S. Located on the Merrimack River, it is the state's largest city. It was settled in 1722–23 and incorporated as the town of Derryfield in 1751. One of America's first textile mills was built there in 1805, beginning a period of rapid industrial growth. Renamed Manchester in 1810, it was incorporated as a city in 1846. Canal systems built in the early 19th century opened navigation to Boston. The textile industry's decline in the 1930s spurred industrial diversification. It is the seat of St. Anselm College, Notre Dame College, and New Hampshire College.

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Manchester

1. a city in NW England, in Manchester unitary authority, Greater Manchester: linked to the Mersey estuary by the Manchester Ship Canal: commercial, industrial, and cultural centre; formerly the centre of the cotton and textile trades; two universities. Pop.: 394 269 (2001)

2. a unitary authority in NW England, in Greater Manchester. Pop.: 432 500 (2003 est.). Area: 116 sq. km (45 sq. miles)