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Portland - 13 reference results
South Portland, city (1990 pop. 23,163), Cumberland co., SW Maine, on the Fore River and Casco Bay, part of the Portland metropolitan area; separated from Falmouth (now Portland) as part of the town of Cape Elizabeth 1765, separated from Cape Elizabeth and inc. 1898. Ships have been built there since the 17th cent. The city also produces varied light manufactures and is a wholesale and retail trade center. The area was settled c.1633. Fort Preble (now Fort Williams) was built in Cape Elizabeth before the War of 1812. Portland Head Light, near the fort in Cape Elizabeth, is the oldest lighthouse (1791) on the Maine coast. The Univ. of Southern Maine is there.
Portland, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, 3d duke of, 1738-1809, British statesman; great-grandson of the 1st earl of Portland. He was lord lieutenant of Ireland (1782) and nominal head of the coalition ministry (1783) dominated by Charles James Fox and Lord North. When the French Revolution shocked the British into passing severe laws against agitators, Portland, as home secretary (1794-1801) under William Pitt, administered them. He promoted the parliamentary union (1800) of Ireland with England and was again—and uneventfully—prime minister from 1807 to 1809.
Portland, William Bentinck, 1st earl of, 1649-1709, Dutch statesman in England. He was William III's most trusted personal adviser. In 1677 he engaged in negotiating the marriage of William (then prince of Orange) and Mary, daughter of James, duke of York (later James II). With the Glorious Revolution (1688) he went to England with William, was made earl of Portland, and was given extensive estates and honors. Portland fought for William at the battle of the Boyne (1690) and in the War of the Grand Alliance and negotiated the Peace of Ryswick (1697) with France. For negotiating and signing the unpopular Partition Treaties (see Spanish Succession, War of the), he was impeached (1701), but the proceedings were soon dropped.

See M. E. Grew, William Bentinck and William III (1924, repr. 1971).

Portland vase, a Roman glass vase, known also as the Barberini vase. It is an unusually fine work of the late Augustan era (early 1st cent. B.C.). About 10 in. (25 cm) high and 22 in. (56 cm) in circumference, it is made of a deep, violet-blue glass overlaid with opaque, white glass into which figures are cut in cameo relief. The mythological scene probably represents Peleus and Thetis accompanied by Poseidon on one side and Aphrodite on the other; on the bottom there is a bust of a young man in a Phrygian cap, possibly Paris. The vase, found in an ancient marble sarcophagus excavated at Monte del Grano near Rome in the pontificate of Urban VIII (1623-44), was placed in the palace of the Barberini family. Sold c.1782, it passed through several hands until acquired by the Duke of Portland. It was lent in 1810 to the British Museum. While on loan it was vandalized and completely shattered (1845) but was so skillfully reconstructed that little trace of the destruction remains. In 1945 it was bought by the British Museum. The vase has been widely reproduced and copied; the most famous replicas were made (c.1789) in jasper ware by Josiah Wedgwood.

See W. Mankowitz, The Portland Vase and the Wedgwood Copies (1954).

Portland, town (1991 pop. 12,945), Dorset, S England. It is on the Isle of Portland, a small rocky peninsula. Portland stone has been used in St. Paul's Cathedral and other important London buildings. Lobsters and crabs are harvested. There is a naval base in Portland harbor.
Portland. 1 City (1990 pop. 64,358), seat of Cumberland co., SW Maine, situated on a small peninsula and adjacent land, with a large, deepwater harbor on Casco Bay; settled c.1632, set off from Falmouth and inc. 1786. The largest city in Maine, it is a port of entry, the commercial center of the state, and the rail, highway, shipping, and processing center for a vast farming, lumbering, and resort area. It is the eastern terminus of the Portland-Montreal oil pipeline and a major receiving port for goods destined for Montreal. Portland has shipyards, canneries (especially for fish), printing and publishing firms, foundries, and important lumbering, paper-milling, computer-chip, fishing, chemical, and textile industries. There is an international airport and ferry service to Yarmouth, N.S. The Univ. of Southern Maine and the Westbrook College campus of the Univ. of New England are in the city, as are numerous museums and a planetarium. The restored Old Port district is a tourist center.

George Cleeve settled in what is now the Portland area to trade c.1632. His post grew in importance, and the settlement known as Falmouth developed; in the late 17th cent. it became a commercial center. It was almost completely destroyed by the British in 1775. Maine's first newspaper, the Falmouth Gazette, was issued in Portland in 1785, and the old lighthouse, established in 1791, is still in use. The city served as state capital from 1820 to 1832. In 1866 a great fire destroyed much of Portland. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (whose house is a landmark) and Robert E. Peary lived here.

2 City (1990 pop. 437,319), seat of Multnomah co., NW Oreg., on the Willamette River near its junction with the Columbia; inc. 1851. The state's largest city, it is a port of entry, a leading financial and industrial center, and an important deepwater port, with shipyards and international trade. Manufactures include lumber, wood products, paper, metals, machinery, computer hardware and software, food items, textiles, clothing, and furniture. Near the city are an international airport and a U.S. air force base.

Portland is the seat of Concordia Univ., Lewis and Clark College, the Oregon Health & Science Univ., Portland State Univ., Reed College, the Univ. of Portland, Warner Pacific College, and several theological schools. Portland has museums of art, science and industry, and advertising, a planetarium, a forestry center, a zoo, Japanese and classical Chinese gardens, a symphony orchestra, and a ballet company. The state historical society is there, and the city's rose festival is an important annual event. The city is home to the Trail Blazers (National Basketball Association). The area is noted for its beautiful scenery, and the Columbia River Gorge, Mt. Hood, and Mt. St. Helens are nearby.

Founded in 1845, it was named for Portland, Maine. Its growth was rapid after 1850, when it served as a supply point for the California gold fields, and continued with the coming of the railroad (1883), the Alaska gold rush (1897-1900), and the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition (1905). Unlike many growing western U.S. cities, Portland sharply resisted urban sprawl by drawing a line around the metropolitan area and preserving open space outside it.

See C. Abbott, Portland: Planning, Politics, and Growth in a 20th-Century City (1983).

Chase, Salmon Portland, 1808-73, American public official and jurist, 6th Chief Justice of the United States (1864-73), b. Cornish, N.H. Admitted to the bar in 1829, he defended runaway blacks so often that he became known as "attorney general for fugitive slaves." Chase became prominent in the Liberty party and later in the Free-Soil party and was elected by a coalition of Free-Soilers and antislavery Democrats to the U.S. Senate, where (1849-55) he eloquently opposed such proslavery measures as the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Chase was elected governor of Ohio in 1855 at the head of a Republican ticket that was dominated by Know-Nothings; by 1857, when he was reelected, he was a leading member of the new Republican party. He was a splendid figure of a man, a "sculptor's ideal of a President," and few Americans have ever gone after that high office with more determination—or less success. He sought the Republican nomination in 1860, but since he lacked the full support of even his own state's delegation and since many considered him an extreme abolitionist, his chance passed quickly.

Again elected to the Senate, Chase served only two days in Mar., 1861, before resigning to become Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. In that difficult position he took part in framing for Congress the new fiscal legislation necessitated by the Civil War, collected new taxes, placed unprecedentedly large loans with reluctant investors, and directed vast expenditures. To assist in government financing and also to improve the status of the currency, he proposed the national bank system (established in Feb., 1863), which is generally considered his greatest achievement. Ambition and a high regard for his own worth made Chase a difficult man to work with; after refusing four previous attempts, Lincoln finally accepted Chase's resignation on June 29, 1864.

Chase failed in his effort to secure the presidential nomination, but he remained an important national figure, and on Dec. 6, 1864, after the death of Roger B. Taney, Lincoln appointed Chase Chief Justice of the United States. He took a moderate stand in most of the important Reconstruction cases. His dissenting opinion in the Slaughterhouse Cases subsequently became the accepted position of the courts as to the restrictive force of the Fourteenth Amendment. On the other hand, his decision (1870) in Hepburn v. Griswold (see Legal Tender cases) was soon reversed. For his fairness in presiding over the Senate in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, he was furiously denounced by his old radical friends. Chase persisted in seeking the presidency, but neither the Democrats in 1868 nor the Liberal Republicans in 1872 were interested in him.

See biography by A. B. Hart (1899, repr. 1969); D. Donald, ed., Inside Lincoln's Cabinet: The Civil War Diaries of Salmon P. Chase (1954, repr. 1970); J. W. Schuckers, Life and Public Services of Salmon P. Chase (1874, repr. 1970).

Binding agent of present-day concrete. It is a finely ground powder made by burning and grinding a limestone mixed with clay or shale. Its inventor, Joseph Aspdin (1799–1855), patented the process in 1824, naming the material for its resemblance to the limestone of the Isle of Portland, England. The cement combines chemically with the water it is mixed with, then hardens and strengthens.

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(born Jan. 13, 1808, Cornish Township, N.H., U.S.—died May 7, 1873, New York, N.Y.) U.S. antislavery leader and sixth chief justice of the U.S. (1864–73). He practiced law in Cincinnati from 1830, defending runaway slaves and white abolitionists. He led the Liberty Party in Ohio from 1841 and helped found the Free Soil Party (1848) and the Republican Party (1854). He served in the U.S. Senate (1849–55, 1860–61) and was the first Republican governor of Ohio (1855–59). He served as secretary of the treasury under Pres. Abraham Lincoln (1861–64). Appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Lincoln, he presided over the impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson and tried to protect the rights of blacks from infringement by state action.

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Portland Vase, Roman cameo glass, 1st century AD; in the British Museum

Roman vase (1st century AD) of dark-blue glass decorated with white figures, the finest surviving Roman example of cameo glass. It came into the possession of the duke of Portland in the 18th century. The vase has been extensively copied, particularly in the Victorian period. The most accurate copies were made in jasperware with white figures in relief (by Josiah Wedgwood, 1790) and in glass (1876). In 1845, while in the British Museum (where it still resides), the original vase was smashed, necessitating painstaking restoration.

Learn more about Portland Vase with a free trial on Britannica.com.

City (pop., 2000: 529,121) and port, northwestern Oregon, U.S. Situated on the Willamette River, southeast of its confluence with the Columbia River, Portland was settled in 1829 on the site of an early Indian campground. It was laid out in 1844 and incorporated in 1851. Early growth was stimulated by gold rushes and the flow of immigrants along the Oregon Trail. It is the state's largest city and principal port. Exports include lumber, aluminum, and wheat. Shipbuilding and meat-packing are important industries. It is the site of many educational institutions, including Lewis and Clark College (1867) and Reed College.

Learn more about Portland with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 13, 1808, Cornish Township, N.H., U.S.—died May 7, 1873, New York, N.Y.) U.S. antislavery leader and sixth chief justice of the U.S. (1864–73). He practiced law in Cincinnati from 1830, defending runaway slaves and white abolitionists. He led the Liberty Party in Ohio from 1841 and helped found the Free Soil Party (1848) and the Republican Party (1854). He served in the U.S. Senate (1849–55, 1860–61) and was the first Republican governor of Ohio (1855–59). He served as secretary of the treasury under Pres. Abraham Lincoln (1861–64). Appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by Lincoln, he presided over the impeachment trial of Pres. Andrew Johnson and tried to protect the rights of blacks from infringement by state action.

Learn more about Chase, Salmon P(ortland) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

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