Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Kimball, Sumner Increase

(Encyclopedia)Kimball, Sumner Increase, 1834–1923, organizer of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, b. Lebanon, Maine. A lawyer, he became (1871) head of the revenue marine service of the Treasury Dept., and his invest...

Whitney, John Hay

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, John Hay, 1904–82, American public official and newspaper publisher, b. Ellsworth, Maine. After an active career in business and in various government posts, Whitney served (1957–61) as a...

Munsey, Frank Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Munsey, Frank Andrew mŭnˈsē [key], 1854–1925, American publisher and author, b. Mercer, Maine. In 1882 he quit a telegraph operator's job in Maine to begin a career as publisher in New York City....

Phips, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Phips, Sir William, 1651–95, American colonial governor. Born in what is today Maine, he was a carpenter and shipbuilder in Boston and became interested in sunken treasure. On his second hunt for tr...

Argall, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Argall, Sir Samuel ärˈgəl [key], d. 1626?, English ship captain, prominent in the early settlement of Virginia. He commanded a ship sent to Jamestown in 1609 and had charge of one of the ships Baro...

cruiser

(Encyclopedia)cruiser, large, fast, moderately armed warship, intermediate in type between the aircraft carrier and the destroyer. During World War II, battle cruisers operated as small battleships, combining in on...

Wyeth, Nathaniel Jarvis

(Encyclopedia)Wyeth, Nathaniel Jarvis, 1802–56, American explorer and trader in the far West, b. Cambridge, Mass. A businessman in Boston, he was fired with a desire to go to Oregon by the eloquence of Hall J. Ke...

Bowring, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Bowring, Sir John bouˈrĭng [key], 1792–1872, British diplomat, linguist, and writer. An extraordinarily versatile linguist, he is remembered for his anthologies and translations of poetry from man...

Glen Cove

(Encyclopedia)Glen Cove, city (2020 pop. 28,365), Nassau co., SE N.Y., on the north shore of Long Island, at the entrance to Hempstead Harbor; settled 1668, inc. as a...

Prince of Wales Island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Prince of Wales Island, 2,231 sq mi (5,778 sq km), off SE Alaska; largest island of the Alexander Archipelago. The island is heavily forested, but has little arable land, no source of freshwater, and ...