Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

191 results found

Earhart, Amelia

(Encyclopedia)Earhart, Amelia ârˈhärt [key], 1897–1937, American aviator, b. Atchison, Kans. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane (1928) and the first woman to make a solo flight across th...

Hamilton, James Hamilton, 3d marquess and 1st duke of

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, James Hamilton, 3d marquess and 1st duke of, 1606–49, Scottish nobleman; grandson of John Hamilton, 1st marquess of Hamilton. He succeeded (1625) his father as marquess of Hamilton and ear...

solar cell

(Encyclopedia)solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of forms of crystalline silicon or of thin films (as of copper indium gallium ...

Ramses II

(Encyclopedia)Ramses II both: rămˈəsēzˌ [key], d. 1225 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XIX dynasty. The son of Seti I, Ramses was not the heir to the throne but usurped it from his brother. He reigned for ...

Veracruz, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Veracruz, city (1990 pop. 303,152), Veracruz state, E central Mexico, on the Gulf of Mexico. Rivaling Tampico as the country's main port, it is also the commercial and industrial center of an importan...

amateur

(Encyclopedia)amateur, in sports, one who engages in athletic competition without material recompense. Upper-class Englishmen in the 19th cent. used the concept to help define their social status, first applying th...

Proud Boys

(Encyclopedia)Proud Boys, American political movement. Founded in 2016 by Vice Media cofounder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys promotes the philosophy of far-right, ne...

Hersh, Seymour Myron

(Encyclopedia)Hersh, Seymour Myron, 1937–, American investigative journalist, b. Chicago, grad. Univ. of Chicago (1958). He began his career (1959) at a local news bureau, then became a wire service correspondent...

Smollett, Tobias George

(Encyclopedia)Smollett, Tobias George smŏlˈĭt [key], 1721–71, Scottish novelist. After studying at Glasgow he came to London in 1739. Failing to get his tragedy The Regicide produced, he shipped as a surgeon's...

Yalta Conference

(Encyclopedia)Yalta Conference, meeting (Feb. 4–11, 1945), at Yalta, Crimea, USSR, of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Most of ...