port Input/output conduit for personal computers. The serial port was cre¬ ated as an interface between data terminal equipment and data- communications equipment. It processes data sequentially, as a series of bits, and is used to connect equipment (e.g., a modem or mouse) to the com¬ puter. The parallel port processes several data bits in parallel and is used to connect peripherals such as computer printers and optical scanners to the computer. The parallel port is faster, but the serial port is cheaper and requires less power. See also USB.
port Sweet, fortified wine of rich taste and aroma made in Portugal. The name derives from Porto, the town where it is traditionally aged and bottled. Most port is red, but lesser amounts of tawny and white are pro¬ duced. Peculiar to the manufacture of port is a large dose of brandy given to the still-fermenting liquid (called must). Much time, often decades, is needed for the maturing of fine ports.
Port Arthur See Lushun
Port-au-Prince X.por-to-'prinsN City (metro, area pop., 1997: 1,556,000), seaport, and capital of Haiti, West Indies, on the southeast¬ ern shore of the Golfe de la Gonave. Founded by the French in 1749, it was destroyed by earthquakes in 1751 and 1770 and has frequently suf¬ fered from fires and civil strife. In 1807 the port was opened to foreign commerce. It is the country’s principal port and commercial centre, pro¬ ducing sugar, flour, cottonseed oil, and textiles.
Port Blair City (pop., 2001 prelim.: 100,186), capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory, India, in the Bay of Bengal. It was occu¬ pied by the British in 1789 but soon abandoned. The town was made a penal colony in 1858. It was occupied by the Japanese in 1942-45. The penal colony was abolished in 1945. Port Blair is a market town with several local museums and an airport.
Port-de-France See Noumea
Port Jackson Inlet of the South Pacific Ocean, New South Wales, southeastern Australia. It is one of the world’s finest natural harbours. It was sighted in 1770 by Capt. James Cook. Its entrance is between North and South Heads, where naval and military stations are located. Sydney is on its southern shore and the northern suburbs of Sydney are on its north¬ ern shore; the shores are joined by the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which was built in 1932.
Port Louis City (pop., 2000: 148,506), capital, and main port of Mau¬ ritius. It was founded c. 1736 by the French as a port for ships rounding the Cape of Good Hope to and from Asia and Europe. With the comple¬ tion of the Suez Canal in 1869, the city’s importance declined. It is the principal commercial centre of the island; its primary export is sugar.
Port Moresby City (pop., 1997: 271,813), capital of Papua New Guinea, on the southeastern coast of the Gulf of Papua. Its large, shel¬ tered harbour was explored by British Capt. John Moresby in 1873. The British annexed the area in 1883-84. The town became a main Allied base in World War II. The National Capital District, established in 1974, includes all of Port Moresby; it became the capital when Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975. A commercial centre, the city is also the site of a university.
Port of Spain City (pop., 1996 est.: 43,396), seaport, and capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Formerly the capital of the West Indies Federation, it is located in the northwestern part of the island of Trinidad on the Gulf of Paria. It is an air transport centre for the Caribbean and has a diver¬ sified economy, producing rum, beer, and lumber. It is also a principal port and shipping centre; exports include oil, sugar, citrus, and asphalt.
Port Said \sa-'ed, 'sid\ Seaport city (pop., 1996 est.: 470,000), northeast¬ ern Egypt. It is on the Mediterranean Sea at the northern end of the Suez Canal. Founded in 1859 on a narrow, sandy strip separating the Mediter¬ ranean from Lake Manzilah, it became the world’s most important coaling station. It was the landing point of French and British troops during the Suez Crisis (1956) that followed Egypt’s nationalization of the Suez Canal. In the Six- Day War of 1967, Israeli forces occupied the eastern bank of the canal, which was closed until 1975. The city was revitalized after 1975, and its industries include textiles, clothing, cosmetics, and glass.
Port-Vila See Vila
porte cochere V.port-ko-'sherX (French: “coach door”) Passageway through a building, or gateway in an outer wall, designed to let vehicles pass from the street to an interior courtyard. Such gateways are common features of homes and palaces built in the grand style of Louis XIV and Louis XV. The term also applies to a roofed structure extending from the entrance of a building over an adjacent driveway.
Porter, Cole (Albert) (b. June 9, 1891, Peru, Ind., U.S.—d. Oct. 15, 1964, Santa Monica, Calif.) U.S. composer and lyricist. Porter was born to an affluent family and studied violin and piano as a child and com¬ posed an operetta at age 10. As a student at Yale University he composed about 300 songs, including “Bulldog”; he went on to study law and then music at Harvard. He made his Broadway debut with the musical com¬ edy See America First (1916). In 1917 he went to France and became an itinerant playboy; though rather openly homosexual, he married a wealthy divorcee. He wrote songs for the Broadway success Paris (1928), and this led to a series of his own hit musicals, including Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blue (1934), Kiss Me, Kate (1948), Can-Can (1953), and Silk Stockings (1955). Porter also worked on a number of films, such as High Society (1956). His witty, sophisticated songs, for which he wrote
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1532 I Porter ► Portsmouth
both words and music, include “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Begin the Beguine,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Porter’s large output might have been even more vast had not a riding accident in 1937 necessitated 30 operations and eventually the amputation of a leg.
Porter, David (b. Feb. 1, 1780, Boston, Mass., U.S.—d. March 3,1843, Pera, Tur.) U.S. naval officer. He joined the navy (1798) and served in the Tripolitan War. In the War of 1812 he commanded the Essex, the first U.S. warship to operate in the Pacific Ocean; he captured several British whal¬ ing vessels and took possession of Nuku Hiva, the largest of the Marquesas Islands (1813). He was blockaded by British frigates in Valparaiso, Chile, where he surrendered (1814). He served on the board of naval commis¬ sioners (1815-23) and commanded a squadron to suppress piracy in the West Indies (1823-25). For unauthorized action against Spanish authori¬ ties in Puerto Rico, he was court-martialed and suspended from duty. He resigned in 1826 and became commander of the Mexican navy (1826-29).
Porter, David Dixon (b. June 8, 1813, Chester, Pa., U.S.—d. Feb. 13, 1891, Washington, D.C.) U.S. naval officer. He served under his father,
David Porter, in the West Indies and in the Mexican navy before joining the U.S. Navy in 1829. Promoted to commander in the American Civil War, he served under his foster brother, David Farragut, to help win the Battle of New Orleans. In 1863 he succeeded in running his fleet past the Confederate fort at Vicksburg to meet Ulysses S. Grant’s troops and complete the effort to open the Mis¬ sissippi River to Union forces. After the war he served as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy (1865—
69) and was promoted to admiral
(1870).
Porter, Fitz-John (b. Aug. 31,
1822, Portsmouth, N.H., U.S.—d.
May 21, 1901, Morristown, N.J.) U.S. army officer. He graduated from West Point and later taught there (1849-55). In the American Civil War he was made a brigadier general of volunteers. In the Second Battle of Bull Run he served under Gen. John Pope, who blamed Porter for the Union’s defeat. At his court-martial, Porter claimed that Pope’s orders were con¬ fusing and impossible to execute, but he was found guilty and cashiered. In 1879 he won a review of his case, which supported his claim of inno¬ cence. In 1886 he was reappointed an army officer and placed, at his own request, on the retired list.