Bloody Mary
an epithet popularly applied to Mary, Queen of England, on account of the persecutions of the Protestants during her reign.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: B (97)
These 11 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Bloody Mary, Bloom, Bloomer Costume.
Bloom
a lump of puddled iron, which leaves the furnace in a rough state, to be subsequently rolled into the bars or other material into which it may be desired to convert the metal. Also a lump of iron made directly from the ore by a furnace called a bloomery.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bloomer Costume
a fanciful fashion of women's dress. It was introduced about the year 1849 by Mrs. Amelia Jenks Bloomer, editor of a woman's rights journal, at Seneca Falls, New York . It consisted of a jacket with close sleeves, a skirt falling a little below the knee, and a pair of Turkish trousers secured by bands at the ankles. This form of dress was adopted with a view to freeing woman from the inconvenience of skirts, but it was ridiculed so universally, both in this country and in Europe, that it was never adopted to any considerable extent. As the result of the movement for reformed dress, however, the short walking skirt that clears the sidewalk was adopted. It also prepared the way for the bicycle costume now worn by women with so much comfort. The present gymnasium suit worn by women is practically a bloomer costume. 2026 Editor's Note: The ridicule was not the end of the story. Amelia Bloomer's name stuck to the garment and then to generations of practical women's clothing, and the cause she lost was won by the bicycle a generation later, when the sheer impracticality of skirts on wheels made "rational dress" respectable. Women in trousers are now unremarkable everywhere the costume was once mocked. (Ed: BR 2026-07-20)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Bloomfield
a township in Essex co., N. J., on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western and the Erie railroads, the Morris canal, and trolley lines connecting with Newark, the Oranges, Jersey City, and other cities; 10 miles N. W. of New York. It was founded in 1685 under the name of Watsessing and received its present name from Gen. Joseph Bloomfield in 1796. It is the seat of a German Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Mountainside Hospital; contains the residences of many New York business men; and is engaged in the manufacture of church and cabinet organs, woolen goods, hats, shoes, rubber goods, tissue and photographic paper, saddlery, hardware, electric elevators, and a variety of brass goods. It has 4 banks and newspapers. Pop. (1910) 15,070; (1920) 22,019.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bloomington (City and county-seat of McLean)
city and county-seat of McLean co., Ill.; on several important railroads; 60 miles N. N. E. of Springfield. It is the seat of the Illinois Wesleyan University (Methodist Episcopal), a Roman Catholic College, two hospitals, four sanitariums, and the general offices of the Chicago and Alton railroad. The Illinois State Normal University and the State Soldiers' Orphans' Home are located at Normal, two miles from the city. Bloomington has electric light and street railway plants, waterworks supplied from an artesian well, public library, National banks, railroad ma manufactories of machinery, shops, and shops, and stoves, farming implements, patent medicines, brick and tile, etc. Pop. (1910) 25,763; (1920) 28,725.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bloomington (City and county-seat of Monroe)
city and county-seat of Monroe co., Ind.; on the Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville, and the Indianapolis Southern railroads: 60 miles S. S. W. of Indianapolis. It is in a limestone and quarrying region; is the seat of the Indiana State University; and besides its farming and quarrying interests has important manufacturing concerns, especially in the lines of leather and hardware. The city has the Monroe County Library, a National bank, and several daily and weekly periodicals. Pop. (1910) 8,838; (1920) 11,595.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bloomsburg
a town and countyseat of Columbia co., Pa.; on the Susquehanna river, the Pennsylvania canal, and several railroads; 40 miles W. of Wilkesbarre. It is in an iron and limestone region; contains a number of iron furnace foundries, silk mills, brass and copper tube works, furniture and desk factories, carpet factories, etc.; is the seat of the State Normal School and a literary institute. Pop. (1910) 7,413; (1920) 7,819.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Blouet
PAUL (blö-ā'), (MAX O'- RELL), a French_lecturer and author, born in Brittany, France, March 2, 1848. During his early life he was an officer of cavalry in the French army, but in 1873 went to England and became a teacher. After the publication of his first book, "John Bull and His Island" (1883), he devoted himself to literature. He made several lecturing tours of the United States. His works include "John Bull and His Daughters" Daughters" (1884); "Jonathan and His Continent" (1888, with Jack Allyn); "A Frenchman in America" (1891), etc. He died May 25, 1902.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Blow-Fly
the name popularly given to such two-winged flies as deposit eggs in the flesh of animals, thus making tumors arise. Several species of calliphora do this, so do breeze flies, etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Blow-holes
Another name for blisters, but more correctly meaning such holes as are further removed from the surface, or, perhaps, entire holes from the surface down; while a blister is so called because of the thin skin of metal which covers the hole. See BLISTER; VENTING; PASTE.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Blowgun
a primitive weapon used especially by some Indian tribes of South America . It consists of a tube or blowpipe from ten to twelve feet long, ingeniously constructed by setting one palm stem within another so as to prevent warping. An arrow about two feet in length is made from the spine of another palm. It is wound with cotton down to make it fit the tube perfectly. This arrow is expelled by the breath with wonderful accuracy. An experienced hunter is able to kill birds in the top of the tallest trees. As the arrow is perfectly noiseless, he is frequently able to shoot several birds before his presence is noticed; thus doing more execution than a sportsman with a double-barreled shotgun. In war, the tips of the arrows are poisoned. A flight of poisoned arrows from Indians in ambush is to be dreaded. See Archery 2026 Editor's Note: The poison on those darts became a gift to medicine. Curare , the South American arrow poison that paralyzes muscles, was isolated and introduced into surgery in the 1940s as the first muscle relaxant — letting surgeons operate under far lighter anesthesia and making modern chest and abdominal surgery practical. (Ed: BR 2026-06-18)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia