Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Transylvania Company

(Encyclopedia)Transylvania Company, association formed to exploit and colonize the area now comprising much of Kentucky and Tennessee. Organized first (Aug., 1774) as the Louisa Company, it was reorganized (Jan., 1...

walnut

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Black walnut, Juglans nigra walnut, common name for some members of the Juglandaceae, a family of chiefly deciduous, resinous trees characterized by large and aromatic compound leaves. Species...

inchworm

(Encyclopedia)inchworm, name for the larvae of moths of the family Geometridae, a large, cosmopolitan group with over 1,200 species indigenous to North America. Also called measuring worms, spanworms, and loopers, ...

Spanish colonial art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Spanish colonial art and architecture, fl. 16th–early 19th cent., the artistic production of Spain's colonies in the New World. These works followed the historical development of styles previously e...

Mixtón War

(Encyclopedia)Mixtón War mēstōnˈ [key], 1541, revolt of indigenous peoples against Spanish rule in Nueva Galicia, W Mexico. The conquest under Nuño de Guzmán had been particularly harsh and the encomienda sys...

Antoninus, Wall of

(Encyclopedia)Antoninus, Wall of, ancient Roman wall extending across N Britain from the Firth of Forth to the Firth of Clyde. It was built by the Roman governor Lollius Urbicus in the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pi...

Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of rŏkˈĭng-əm [key], 1730–82, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the “king's fri...

San Blas Islands

(Encyclopedia)San Blas Islands mo͞oläˈtäs [key], archipelago off the northeast coast of Panama. It consists of 332 coral islands. The inhabitants are almost pure-blooded aborigines of Carib origin; fishing and ...

Fort Dearborn

(Encyclopedia)Fort Dearborn, U.S. army post on the Chicago River, NE Ill.; est. 1803 and named for Secretary of War Henry Dearborn. Threatened by the indigenous population at the start of the War of 1812, the front...

Dias, Antônio Gonçalves

(Encyclopedia)Dias, Antônio Gonçalves əntôˈnyo͝o go͝onsälˈvəs dēˈəs [key], 1823–64, Brazilian poet and dramatist. A leading writer of the romantic school, he is noted for his strong nativist feeling ...

Browse by Subject