Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Chaudière

(Encyclopedia)Chaudière shōdyĕrˈ [key], river, 115 mi (185 km) long, rising in Lac Mégantic, SE Que., Canada, near the Maine-Que. boundary and flowing generally N to the St. Lawrence River opposite the city of...

Missouri Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Missouri Compromise, 1820–21, measures passed by the U.S. Congress to end the first of a series of crises concerning the extension of slavery. By 1818, Missouri Territory had gained sufficient popul...

radio range

(Encyclopedia)radio range, geographically fixed radio transmitter that radiates coded signals in all directions to enable aircraft and ships to determine their bearings. An aircraft or ship can determine its line o...

coon cat

(Encyclopedia)coon cat, name for a breed of large domestic cats (also called Maine cats), for the coatimundi, and for the cacomistle. ...

blizzard

(Encyclopedia)blizzard, winter storm characterized by high winds, low temperatures, and driving snow; according to the official definition given in 1958 by the U.S. Weather Bureau, the winds must exceed 35 mi (56 k...

Morton, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Morton, Thomas, fl. 1622–47, English trader and adventurer in New England. He visited New England in 1622 and returned in 1625 with Captain Wollaston, who founded a settlement at Mt. Wollaston (now ...

Curtis, Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar

(Encyclopedia)Curtis, Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar, 1850–1933, American publisher and philanthropist, b. Portland, Maine. He started his first periodical, The People's Ledger, in Boston in 1872. Later, in Philadelphi...

Adramyttium

(Encyclopedia)Adramyttium ădˌrəmĭtˈēəm [key], place, the modern Edremit, NW Turkey. According to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Paul's ship was built here. ...

loran

(Encyclopedia)loran lôrˈănˌ [key], long-range, accurate radio navigational system used by a ship or aircraft to confirm or to determine its geographical position. The term loran is derived from the words long-r...

salvage

(Encyclopedia)salvage, in maritime law, the compensation that the owner must pay for having his vessel or cargo saved from peril, such as shipwreck, fire, or capture by an enemy. Salvage is awarded only when the pa...