Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Amchitka

(Encyclopedia)Amchitka ămchĭtˈkə [key], island, 40 mi (64 km) long, in the Rat group of the Aleutian Islands, W Alaska. It was a site in 1965 and 1971 for the underground detonation of nuclear devices, its smal...

Sable Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Sable Island, low, sandy island, c.25 mi (40 km) long and 1 mi (1.6 km) wide, off N.S., Canada, ESE of Halifax, near the edge of the continental shelf. The crescent-shaped island is the exposed part o...

Rock Island, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Rock Island, city (1990 pop. 40,552), seat of Rock Island co., NW Ill., on the Mississippi and Rock rivers, adjacent to Moline and opposite Davenport, Iowa; inc. 1841. These three cities, with Bettend...

Lismore, island, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Lismore lĭzˈmôr, lĭzmôrˈ [key], island, 91⁄2 mi (15.3 km) long and 11⁄2 mi (2.4 km) wide, Argyll and Bute, W Scotland, in Loch Linnhe. There are ruins of several old castles, one of which wa...

Long Island, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Long Island, battle of, Aug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island, George Washingt...

Rock Island, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Rock Island, town (1991 pop. 1,067), S Que., Canada, at the Vermont border. It is the seat of Stanstead College. Machine tools, dies, and textiles are made. ...

Rhode Island, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rhode Island, smallest state in the United States, located in New England; bounded by Massachusetts (N and E), the Atlantic Ocean (S), and Connecticut (W). Until well into the 20th cent. ...

Browse by Subject