Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Daryal

(Encyclopedia)Daryal dărēĕlˈ [key], pass, c.3,950 ft (1,204 m) high, N Georgia, in the central Greater Caucasus Mts. below Mt. Kazbek. Situated above the Terek River, it is noted for its wild grandeur. The Geor...

Hambletonian

(Encyclopedia)Hambletonian hămbəltōˈnēən [key], 1849–76, American trotting horse, foaled at Chester, N.Y. Originally owned by Jonas Seely, Hambletonian was bought for little money by Bill Rysdyk and won few...

Brandywine, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Brandywine, battle of, in the American Revolution, fought Sept. 11, 1777, along Brandywine Creek. The creek, formed by two small branches in SE Pennsylvania, flows southeast to join, near Wilmington, ...

Phoenixville

(Encyclopedia)Phoenixville fēˈnĭksvĭl [key], borough (1990 pop. 15,066), Chester co., SE Pa., on the Schuylkill River; settled 1720, inc. 1849. Iron deposits in the region led to the early development of an iro...

Merlin

(Encyclopedia)Merlin, in Arthurian legend, magician, seer, and teacher at the court of King Vortigern and later at the court of King Arthur. He was a bard and culture hero in early Celtic folklore. In Arthurian leg...

West, Jerry

(Encyclopedia)West, Jerry (Jerome Alan West), 1938–, American basketball player, b. Cheylan, W.Va. One of the game's great shooting guards, he led West Virginia Univ. to the 1959 National Collegiate Athletic Asso...

Coatesville

(Encyclopedia)Coatesville kōtsˈvĭl [key], city (2020 pop. 12,987), Chester co., SE Pa., on Brandywine Creek, ...

Spruance, Raymond Ames

(Encyclopedia)Spruance, Raymond Ames spro͞oˈəns [key], 1886–1969, American admiral, b. Baltimore. Commissioned in the navy in 1908, he reached the rank of rear admiral in 1939. In World War II he distinguished...

Morley, Sylvanus Griswold

(Encyclopedia)Morley, Sylvanus Griswold, 1883–1948, American archaeologist, b. Chester, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1908. A specialist in Middle American archaeology and Mayan heiroglyphs, Morley did fieldwork (1909–14...

Kaskaskia

(Encyclopedia)Kaskaskia kăskăsˈkēə [key], small village, Randolph co., SE Ill., on Kaskaskia island in the Mississippi River where it is joined by the Kaskaskia River. The settlement was established (1703) by ...