Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

446 results found

Blackbeard

(Encyclopedia)Blackbeard, d. 1718, English pirate. His name was probably Edward Teach, Thatch, or Thach. He probably began as a privateer in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), then turned pirate. In 171...

Curaçao

(Encyclopedia)Curaçao kyo͝oˈrəsō, ko͞oräsouˈ [key], island (2015 est. pop. 158,000), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), an autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the Lesser Antilles off the co...

Murner, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Murner, Thomas tōˈmäs mo͝orˈnər [key], 1475–1537, German satirist and Franciscan monk, b. Strasbourg. He was the most scurrilous writer of his time and spared almost no one in his satire. He a...

Narayanganj

(Encyclopedia)Narayanganj or Narayungunj both: näräˈyəngənj [key], city (1991 pop. 296,000), E central Bangladesh, at the confluence of the Lakhya and Dhaleshwari rivers. It is the river port for Dhaka and Ban...

chronometer

(Encyclopedia)chronometer krənŏmˈətər [key], instrument for keeping highly accurate time, used especially in navigation. Before the advent of radio time signals it was the only device that provided the time ac...

direction finder

(Encyclopedia)direction finder, electronic device used to determine the position of a ship or aircraft. In a simple direction finder a radio receiver is equipped with a revolving directional antenna. The antenna re...

Harwich

(Encyclopedia)Harwich hărˈĭj [key], town, Essex, E central England, on the estuary of the Stour and the ...

Penetanguishene

(Encyclopedia)Penetanguishene pĕnˌətăngˌgəshēnˈ, –gwəshēnˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 6,643), S Ont., Canada, on Penetanguishene Bay, an inlet of Georgian Bay. The name is a Native American word for “whi...

Williams, John, English missionary

(Encyclopedia)Williams, John, 1796–1839, English missionary, called the Apostle of Polynesia. Under the London Missionary Society he went (1817) to the Society Islands. He discovered Rarotonga in 1823 and founded...

Nicholson, James

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, James, c.1736–1804, American naval officer, b. Chestertown, Md.; brother of Samuel Nicholson. During the American Revolution, Nicholson, appointed (1776) a captain in the Continental navy...