a city in the northwest of England, on the River Mersey. Liverpool is still a big port, but it is much less important than it was in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Much of its industry has also closed down, so there is fairly high unemployment in the area. In the 1960s, Liverpool became famous and very fashionable as the place where the Beatles and several other bands started playing music. Football is very popular in Liverpool, and the city has two well-known teams, Liverpool and Everton. City (pop., 2001: 439,476), northwestern England, on the estuary of the River Mersey. It forms the nucleus of the metropolitan county of Merseyside in the historic county of Lancashire. King John granted its charter in 1207. Its growth was slow until the 18th century, when it expanded rapidly as a result of trade with the Americas and the West Indies, becoming Britain's most important port after London. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (opened 1830) was the first in England to link two major cities. Heavily damaged in World War II, it declined in importance as a port and an industrial centre in the postwar era. The birthplace of the Beatles, it is also the seat of the University of Liverpool (1903)
born June 7, 1770, London, Eng. died Dec. 4, 1828, Fife House, Whitehall, London British prime minister (1812-27). He entered the House of Commons in 1790 and became a leading Tory, serving as foreign secretary (1801-04), home secretary (1804-06, 1807-09), and secretary for war and the colonies (1809-12). The War of 1812 with the U.S. and the final campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars were fought during his premiership. He urged abolition of the slave trade at the Congress of Vienna (1814-15). Although sometimes overshadowed by his colleagues and by the duke of Wellington's military prowess, he conducted a sound administration