Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

McKay, Donald

(Encyclopedia)McKay, Donald məkāˈ, məkīˈ [key], 1810–80, American shipbuilder, b. Nova Scotia. He opened his own shipyard in Newburyport, Mass., in 1841, then moved to Boston in 1845. He grew celebrated as ...

Mather, Stephen Tyng

(Encyclopedia)Mather, Stephen Tyng, 1867–1930, American industrialist and environmentalist, b. San Francisco, grad. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1887. He began working for the Pacific Coast Borax Company in the...

Kirk, Grayson Louis

(Encyclopedia)Kirk, Grayson Louis, 1903–97, American educator, b. Jeffersonville, Ohio, grad. Miami Univ., 1924, Ph.D. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1930. He taught at Wisconsin from 1929, then became a professor of govern...

López, Carlos Antonio

(Encyclopedia)López, Carlos Antonio kärˈlōs äntôˈnyō lōˈpās [key], 1790?–1862, president of Paraguay (1844–62). He rose to power shortly after the death of J. G. Rodríguez Francia and soon became pr...

Wigmore, John Henry

(Encyclopedia)Wigmore, John Henry, 1863–1943, American legal educator, b. San Francisco, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1883; M.A. and LL.B., 1887). He taught (1889–92) Anglo-American law at Keio-Gijuku Univ., Tokyo. Aft...

Young, John Watts

(Encyclopedia)Young, John Watts, 1930–2018, American astronaut, b. San Francisco. A Navy test pilot, he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astronaut program in 1962. Young served as pilot ...

Waddell, James Iredell

(Encyclopedia)Waddell, James Iredell wŏdĕlˈ [key], 1824–86, Confederate naval officer in the American Civil War, b. Pittsboro, N.C. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. navy in 1841. On return from duty i...

Cajamarca

(Encyclopedia)Cajamarca kähämärˈkä [key], city, capital of Cajamarca prov., N Peru. An important commercial ...

Sloat, John Drake

(Encyclopedia)Sloat, John Drake, 1781–1867, American naval officer, b. near Goshen, N.Y. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1800 and resigned after a year's service, but reentered for service in the War of 18...

timberline

(Encyclopedia)timberline, elevation above which trees cannot grow. Its location is influenced by the various factors that determine temperature, including latitude, prevailing wind directions, and exposure to sunli...

Browse by Subject