Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

494 results found

Standish, Miles

(Encyclopedia)Standish, Miles or Myles, c.1584–1656, American colonist, b. England. After serving as a soldier for a number of years, Standish accompanied the Pilgrims to America on the Mayflower (1620) and was r...

Merrimack, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Merrimack, river, c.110 mi (180 km) long, formed at Franklin, S central N.H., by the junction of the Pemigewasset (rising in the White Mts.) and Winnipesaukee rivers. It flows S past Concord and Manch...

Bacow, Lawrence Seldon

(Encyclopedia)Bacow, Lawence Seldon, 1951–, American educator and lawyer, b. Detroit, S.B. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1972, J.D., M.P.P. Harvard, 1976, Ph.D. Harvard, 1978. Bacow was on the faculty at...

booby

(Encyclopedia)booby, common name for some members of the family Sulidae, large, streamlined sea birds. Tropical and subtropical members of the family are called boobies; those of northern waters are called gannets....

Atget, Eugène

(Encyclopedia)Atget, Eugène özhĕnˈ ätzhĕˈ [key], 1857–1927, French photographer. After working as a sailor and then as an actor for many years, Atget became a photographer at the age of 42. He began at onc...

Costello, Lou

(Encyclopedia)Costello, Lou: see Abbott and Costello. ...

Darley, George

(Encyclopedia)Darley, George, 1795–1846, English author and mathematician, b. Ireland. Included among his works are the pastoral drama Sylvia (1827), the poem Nepenthe (1835), a precursor of 20th-century symbolis...

Tombaugh, Clyde William

(Encyclopedia)Tombaugh, Clyde William tŏmˈbô [key], 1906–97, American astronomer, b. Streator, Ill. Although lacking formal training or a college degree, he was hired in 1929 as an assistant by the Lowell Obse...

Slipher, Vesto Melvin

(Encyclopedia)Slipher, Vesto Melvin slīˈfər [key], 1875–1969, American astronomer, b. Mulberry, Ind. From 1901 he was at Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz., where he served as director (1917–54). Much of h...

Browse by Subject