Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

first bankers kept gold and silver for

people and also lent it out. In ancient

Greece and Rome there were companies

very much like modern banks.

Florence and Venice, two cities in Italy,

became banking centers in the 1400s. In

England gold dealers served as bankers

until the Bank of England was founded

in 1694.

Many people in the United States did

not want the U.S. government to control

banking. The central Bank of the

United States closed in 1836. But in

1913 the U.S. government set up the

Federal Reserve System. This system

oversees U.S. banks today.

Many banks failed during a period

known as the Great Depression that

started in 1929. Depositors at these

banks lost their money. To protect

depositors, the U.S. Congress set up the

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

(FDIC) in 1933. The FDIC gives

depositors money if their bank fails.

Today banks use computers for nearly all

their business. Customers often use their

home computers for banking, too.

A woman uses an automated teller machine

in Shanghai, China.

Some aid agencies operate small banks

and credit unions to help people in developing

areas. They loan money to people to

start small businesses.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Bank and Banking 25

 

People can pay bills or transfer money

between their bank accounts over the

Internet.

#More to explore

Money

Banneker,

Benjamin

A man of many talents, Benjamin Banneker

was one of the first distinguished

African American scientists and mathematicians.

He was also an inventor and

a writer.

Banneker was born on November 9,

1731, in Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland. His

father had been a slave, but Benjamin

was free. Although he had little schooling,

he grew up with a love of book

learning.

Banneker attracted attention in his early

20s by designing and building a wooden

clock. It was the first clock of its type to

be built in what is now the United

States.

Banneker taught himself astronomy and

in 1791 began to publish a yearly almanac.

In it he tracked when the sun,

Moon, and stars would appear in the

skies on every day in the coming year.

His almanacs were praised by European

scientists. Banneker also wrote essays

and pamphlets arguing against slavery

and war.

In the 1790s Banneker helped to lay out

the new national capital of Washington,

D.C. When the city plans were lost,

Banneker was able to reproduce them

from memory. He died in Baltimore,

Maryland, on October 25, 1806.

#More to explore

Astronomy •Washington, D.C.

An illustration from the 1400s shows people

using a bank in the city of Florence.

A U.S. postage stamp honors

African American scientist Benjamin

Banneker.

26 Banneker, Benjamin BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Barbados

The island country of Barbados lies at the

eastern end of theWest Indies, a group of

islands in the Caribbean Sea. A longtime

British colony, Barbados still shows the

influence of British culture. Bridgetown

is the capital and largest city.

Coral reefs surround Barbados. The surface

of the island is also made of coral,

which lies over rocks. There are no rivers

or lakes and few hilly areas. Barbados

has a moderate tropical climate with wet

and dry seasons.

The most common plant on Barbados is

sugarcane, which is grown on large plantations.

Trees include mahogany and

cabbage palm. Monkeys, hares, mongooses,

and egrets are common animals.

Green dolphins, barracudas, and parrot

fish live in the surrounding waters.

Barbados is a densely populated island.

About half of the people live in cities or

towns. Most Barbadians have African

ancestors. Smaller numbers of people

have mixed, British, U.S., or Asian

ancestry. English is the official language

of Barbados. Some people speak a form

of English called Bajan. Most of the

people are Christians.

The economy of Barbados is based on

tourism and on the production of sugar

and rum. Finance and other services are

also important. Manufacturers make

chemicals, paper, and metal products.

Arawak people may have lived on Barbados

when the Spanish visited the island

in the early 1500s. The English settled

there in 1627. They built sugar plantations

and brought slaves from Africa to

work on them. Great Britain ruled the

island until 1966. Barbados then

became an independent country.

..More to explore

Bridgetown • Coral •West Indies

A market that sells souvenirs to tourists is

located near a boat docking area in

Barbados.

Facts About

BARBADOS

Population

(2008 estimate)

282,000

Area

166 sq mi (430

sq km)

Capital

Bridgetown

Form of

government

Constitutional

monarchy

Major cities

Bridgetown,

Speightstown

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Barbados 27

 

Bark

Bark is the outer layer of the trunk of a

tree. Trees have an inner and an outer

layer of bark.

The inner layer of bark is alive and continues

to grow as the tree grows. It contains

a tissue called phloem. Phloem

carries the food that is made in the

leaves to all the other parts of the tree.

The outer layer of bark is dead. As the

living bark grows, it pushes outward and

later dies. It then becomes the rough

bark that is seen on the trunk of a tree.

Even though the outer layer of bark is

dead, it is still very useful to the tree. It

helps to keep water in the tree from