Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ritchie, Anne Isabella Thackeray, Lady

(Encyclopedia)Ritchie, Anne Isabella Thackeray, Lady, 1837–1919, English writer; eldest daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray. In 1877 she married a cousin, Richmond T. W. Ritchie (knighted 1907). She wrote sev...

British thermal unit

(Encyclopedia)British thermal unit, abbr. Btu, unit for measuring heat quantity in the customary system of English units of measurement, equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of...

British Indian Ocean Territory

(Encyclopedia)British Indian Ocean Territory, archipelago, c.1,180 mi (1,900 km), NE of Mauritius, in the central Indian Ocean. The more than 50 islands, which form the Chagos Archipelago and are located on the sou...

Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Turgot, Anne Robert Jacques än rōbĕrˈ zhäk türgōˈ [key], 1727–81, French economist, comptroller general of finances (1774–76). The son of a rich merchant, he showed precocious ability at s...

Tourville, Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Tourville, Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, comte de än ēläryôNˈ də kôtäNtăNˈ kôNt də to͞orvēlˈ [key], 1642–1701, French naval commander. He served in the wars of King Louis XIV and was mad...

British Columbia, University of

(Encyclopedia)British Columbia, University of, at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; provincially supported; coeducational; chartered 1908, opened 1915. It has faculties of arts, science, graduate studies, applie...

East India Company, British

(Encyclopedia)East India Company, British, 1600–1874, company chartered by Queen Elizabeth I for trade with Asia. The original object of the group of merchants involved was to break the Dutch monopoly of the spic...

British North America Act

(Encyclopedia)British North America Act, law passed by the British Parliament in 1867 that provided for the unification of the Canadian provinces into the dominion of Canada. Until 1982 the act also functioned as t...

Browse by Subject