Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Campeche, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Campeche kämpāˈchā [key], state, 21,924 sq mi (56,798 sq km), SE Mexico, on the Gulf of C...

Catlett, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Catlett, Elizabeth, 1915–2012, American-Mexican sculptor, painter, and printmaker, considered one of the foremost African-American artists of her era, b. Washington, D.C., grad. Howard Univ. (B.A., ...

airmail

(Encyclopedia)airmail, transport of mail by airplanes. Demonstration flights that showed the feasibility of carrying mail by air were made in Great Britain and in the United States in 1911. In the United States, af...

Carrero Blanco, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Carrero Blanco, Luis lo͞oēsˈ kär-rāˈrō blängˈkō [key], 1903–73, Spanish statesman and naval officer. Following the Spanish civil war, during which he served in the Nationalist navy, he bec...

Cárdenas, García López de

(Encyclopedia)Cárdenas, García López de gärthēˈä lōˈpĕth dā kärˈdānäs [key], fl. 1540, Spanish explorer in the Southwest. A member of the 1540 expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, he was sel...

Rezanov, Nikolai Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Rezanov, Nikolai Petrovich nyĭkəlīˈ pētrôˈvîch ryĕzäˈnəf [key], 1764–1807, Russian trader, an official of the Russian American Company. In 1803 he headed an expedition that aimed to go a...

Pittsburg

(Encyclopedia)Pittsburg pĭtsˈbərg [key]. 1 Industrial city (1990 pop. 47,564), Contra Costa co., W Calif., on the edge of the San Francisco Bay area, at the junction of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers;...

Rice, Jerry Lee

(Encyclopedia)Rice, Jerry Lee, 1962–, American football player, b. Crawford, Miss. Winning national attention while at the otherwise obscure Mississippi Valley State College, Itta Bena, Miss., Rice subsequently p...

Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett

(Encyclopedia)Bierce, Ambrose Gwinett ămˈbrōz gwĭnĕtˈ bĭrs [key], 1842–1914?, American satirist, journalist, and short-story writer, b. Meigs co., Ohio. He fought with extreme bravery in the Civil War, and...

Davidson, George

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, George, 1825–1911, American geographer and astronomer, b. England. From 1845 to 1895 he was on the staff of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. He charted (1850–60) the U.S. Pacific coas...

Browse by Subject