Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Crawford Notch

(Encyclopedia)Crawford Notch, water gap in the White Mts., N central N.H., through which the Saco River flows. It is named for Abel Crawford, an early settler. The area is a state park (est. 1911). ...

Cain

(Encyclopedia)Cain kān [key], in the Bible, eldest son of Adam and Eve, a tiller of the soil. In jealousy he killed his brother Abel and became a fugitive. ...

Shittim

(Encyclopedia)Shittim shĭtˈĭm [key], in the Bible, last place in which the Israelites encamped before reaching the Holy Land. It was E of Jericho. An alternate form is Abel-shittim. The valley of Shittim of the ...

Nash, John Forbes, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Nash, John Forbes, Jr., 1928–2015, American mathematician, b. Bluefield, W.Va., grad. Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie-Mellon Univ., B.A. and M.A. 1948), Ph.D. Princeton 1950. During a...

Maachah, ancient city-state of Syria

(Encyclopedia)Maachah or Maacah both: māˈəkə [key], ancient city-state of Syria, S of Mt. Hermon. It was held by Arameans in biblical times. The inhabitants are Maachathi or Maachathites. It is mentioned severa...

Richthofen, Manfred, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Richthofen, Manfred, Baron von mänˈfrāt [key], 1892–1918, German aviator in World War I. He was credited with the spectacular achievement of shooting down 80 aircraft; he was killed in action on ...

Diemen, Anton van

(Encyclopedia)Diemen, Anton van änˈtōn vän dēˈmən [key], 1593–1645, Dutch colonial official. As governor-general for the Dutch East India Company in the East Indies after 1636, he captured Ceylon (Sri Lank...

Eve, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Eve [Heb.,=life], in the Bible, the first woman, wife of Adam and the mother of Cain, Abel, and Seth. Fashioned from Adam's rib, she was beguiled by the serpent into eating the forbidden fruit of the ...

Steig, William

(Encyclopedia)Steig, William, 1907–2003, American cartoonist and children's book writer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He began drawing cartoons for the The New Yorker in the 1930s, and ultimately produced over 1,600 spontan...

Berry, Martha McChesney

(Encyclopedia)Berry, Martha McChesney, 1866–1942, American educator and philanthropist, b. near Rome, Ga., Ph.D. Univ. of Georgia, 1920. Determined to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged mountai...

Browse by Subject