Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bourinot, Sir John George

(Encyclopedia)Bourinot, Sir John George bo͝orˈĭnōˌ [key], 1837–1902, Canadian historian and political scientist, b. Sydney, N.S. He is remembered as an authority on the Canadian constitution and government. ...

American Automobile Association

(Encyclopedia)American Automobile Association (AAA), federation of American automobile clubs, est. 1902. AAA provides a number of benefits to its members, including emergency road service; national and internationa...

Troup, George Michael

(Encyclopedia)Troup, George Michael, 1780–1856, governor of Georgia (1823–27), b. McIntosh Bluff, on the Tombigbee River, Ala. (then a part of Georgia). As governor, he was an extreme supporter of states' right...

Native American languages

(Encyclopedia)Native American languages, languages of the native peoples of the Western Hemisphere and their descendants. A number of the Native American languages that were spoken at the time of the European arriv...

Pan-American Highway

(Encyclopedia)Pan-American Highway, system of roads, c.16,000 mi (25,750 km) long, linking the nations of the Western Hemisphere. It was suggested at the Fifth International Conference of American States (1923) and...

Kaelin, William George, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Kaelin, William George, Jr., 1957–, American oncologist, b. New York City, M.D. Duke Univ., 1982. He has spent his entire career at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Mass., and also is a pro...

Keith, George, Scottish preacher

(Encyclopedia)Keith, George, c.1638–1716, Scottish preacher. Joining the Quakers c.1663, he was closely associated with Robert Barclay, George Fox, and other influential Friends. Shortly after his arrival in Amer...

Keith, George, Scottish Jacobite

(Encyclopedia)Keith, George, 1693?–1778, Scottish Jacobite, 10th earl marischal [marshal] of Scotland. He took part in the Jacobite uprising of 1715 and after its failure escaped to the Continent. A leader of the...

American Philosophical Society

(Encyclopedia)American Philosophical Society, first scientific society in America, founded (1743) in Philadelphia. It was an outgrowth of the Junto formed (1727) by Benjamin Franklin. Franklin was the first secreta...

Murray, Lord George

(Encyclopedia)Murray, Lord George, 1694–1760, Scottish general. He took part in the risings of the Jacobites in 1715, 1719, and 1745. Although he foresaw the hopelessness of the 1745 uprising, he was one of Charl...

Browse by Subject