newton

SI unit of force. A newton is defined as the amount of force needed to move an object of 1 kg so that it accelerates at 1 metre per second per second. It is also used as a unit of weight. The weight of a medium size (100 g/3 oz) apple is one newton.

Newton

Small portable computer, also called a personal digital assistant (PDA), produced by Apple in 1993 and discontinued in 1998. The Newton combined many functions, including address book, diary, word processor, fax terminal, and e-mailing and Internet browsing facilities, in a pocket-sized unit. Its keyboardless interface and handwriting recognition software allowed users to enter data using a stylus and a touch screen.

Newton

City and seat of Jasper County, in central Iowa, 48 km/30 mi east of Des Moines; population (2000) 15,600. Settled in 1846, it has been the headquarters of the Maytag company, which began manufacturing farm implements in 1893, and washing machines in 1907.

At first called Newton City, and named after a revolutionary war soldier, Sergeant Newton, the city became known simply as Newton in 1847. Attractions include St Stephen's Episcopal Church, a gothic structure of 1874, which is on the national register of historic places, the International Wrestling Institute and museum, and the Jasper County museum. There is an annual blues music festival, and nearby in Prairie City is the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Prairie Learning Center, the largest ecosystem reconstruction in the USA at around 2000 ha/5000 acres. The city has had three courthouses: from 1845 to a relocation in 1857, from 1858 to 1909, and the present structure, which dates from 1911.

Newton

City and seat of Harvey County, in southeastern Kansas, 26 mi/42 km north of Wichita; population (2000) 17,200. Situated on the Great Plains, it has been a major centre of the Mennonite sect since the late 19th century, when settlers were attracted here by the development of the railway.

In the 1870s, the Santa Fe Railroad reached Newton; one of its first benefits was to enable cattle driven north on the Chisholm Trail to be transported quickly from this railhead to slaughterhouses in Chicago. In addition, many German Mennonite farmers settled here, recruited by the railway from the Volga region of Russia. They brought with them seeds of a resilient strain of winter wheat, ‘Turkey Red’, which revolutionized agriculture on the Great Plains. Today, the city and its environs form the largest Mennonite community in the USA; the Mennonite-affiliated Bethel College (founded 1887) is in the adjacent city of North Newton; population 1,300. Agriculture remains a mainstay of Newton's economy; it also refines oil and manufactures aircraft, mobile homes, and farm implements.

Newton

City in Middlesex County, eastern Massachusetts; population (2000 est) 83,800. Newton stands on the Charles River, 11 km/7 mi west of downtown Boston. Settled in 1630, it was incorporated as a town in 1688 and as a city in 1873. It comprises 14 villages set on hilly terrain. Factories manufacture electrical components, textiles, paper, plastics, and rubber.

The waterfalls on the lower Charles River stimulated early industrial development in Newton, notably iron foundries and textile mills. After the railway arrived in 1834, the settlement became a major suburb of Boston. Newton was one of only five cities with a population greater than 50,000 in the USA to be awarded the US Conference of Mayors Liveability Award in 1993.

The city is widely renowned as a centre for education; it is home to many state schools, a number of junior colleges, and the Andover–Newton Theological School. Its constituent villages (essentially a series of railway suburbs) are Newton Center, Newton Corner, Newton Highlands, Newton Upper Falls, Newton Lower Falls, West Newton, Newtonville, Auburndale, Chestnut Hill (part of which is also situated in Brookline), Waban, Oak Hill, Oak Hill Parl, Thompsonville, and Nonantum. On Beacon Street in Newton Center lies ‘Heartbreak Hill’, a notoriously arduous stretch of the annual Boston Marathon. Newton has 185 entries on the national register of historic places.

Newton

City and seat of Catawba County, in west-central North Carolina, 11 km/7 mi southeast of Hickory; population (1990) 9,300. Together with the adjoining city of Conover (population 5,500), it is a centre for textile production; furniture and fertilizer are also manufactured here.