Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

kamikaze

(Encyclopedia)kamikaze käˌməkäˈzē [key] [Jap.,=divine wind], the typhoon that destroyed Kublai Khan's fleet, foiling his invasion of Japan in 1281. In World War II the term was used for a Japanese suicide air...

Fox, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Fox, river, 176 mi (283 km) long, rising in S central Wis. and flowing SW to within 1.5 mi (2.4 km) of Portage, Wis., on the Wisconsin River, then NE through Lake Winnebago into Green Bay, an arm of L...

Kaministikwia

(Encyclopedia)Kaministikwia kəmĭnˌĭstĭkˈwēə [key], river, c.60 mi (100 km) long, rising in Dog Lake, W Ont., Canada, and flowing S, then E into Lake Superior at Thunder Bay. In fur trade days it was the chi...

Text of the Constitution of the United States

(Encyclopedia)Text1 of the Constitution of the United States Preamble Article I Article II Article III Article IV Article V Article VI Article VII Amendment I Amendment II Am...

Kelsey, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Kelsey, Henry kĕlˈsē [key], c.1670–1729, English fur trader and explorer in Canada. He entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1684. He was sent (1689) inland to secure trade with abor...

Nelson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Robert, 1794–1873, Canadian rebel, b. Montreal; brother of Wolfred Nelson. Like his brother, he was a surgeon in the War of 1812, and with him he entered the Legislative Assembly of Lower Ca...

peccary

(Encyclopedia)peccary pĕkˈərē [key], small wild pig, genus Tayassu, the only pig native to the Americas. Although similar in appearance to Old World pigs, peccaries are classified in a family of their own becau...

Huffington, Arianna Stassinopoulos

(Encyclopedia) Huffington, Arianna Stassinopoulos, 1950- , Greek-American journalist and web entrepreneur, b. Athens, Greece, as Ariadne-Anna Stasinopoúlou,...

United Irishmen

(Encyclopedia)United Irishmen or United Irish Society, Irish political organization. It was founded at Belfast in 1791 by Theobald Wolfe Tone. Disgruntled by the use of English patronage to control Irish politics, ...

Great Northern Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Great Northern Peninsula or Petit Nord Peninsula, comprising NW Newfoundland island, Canada, extending 170 mi (274 km) NE from Bonne Bay on the west to Cape Bauld at the tip; White Bay borders it on t...