Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Clark, William Andrews

(Encyclopedia)Clark, William Andrews, 1839–1925, U.S. Senator and copper magnate, b. Fayette co., Pa. He moved to Montana, where he amassed a large fortune from the development of copper mines. He wielded immense...

Anza, Juan Bautista de

(Encyclopedia)Anza, Juan Bautista de hwän boutēsˈtä dā änˈsä [key], 1735–88, Spanish explorer and official in the Southwest and the far West, reputed founder of San Francisco, b. Mexico. Accompanied by Fa...

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, astronomical observatory located 35 mi (56 km) S of Tucson, Ariz., at an altitude of 8,500 ft (2,590 m). It is operated jointly by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Obse...

Glendale

(Encyclopedia)Glendale. 1 City (2020 pop. 248,325), Maricopa co., S central Ariz., adjacent to Phoenix; inc. 1910. It is located in a rich agricultural region ...

Low, Frank James

(Encyclopedia)Low, Frank James, 1933–2009, American astronomer and physicist, b. Mobile, Ala., grad. Yale (B.S. 1955), Rice Univ. (M.A. 1957, Ph.D 1959). Low, who worked at Texas Instruments and the National Radi...

brownstone

(Encyclopedia)brownstone, red to brown variety of sandstone. Its unusual color is caused in some instances by the presence of red iron oxide which acts as a cement, binding the sand grains together. Vast thicknesse...

Telesto

(Encyclopedia)Telesto təlĕsˈtō [key], in astronomy, one of the named moons, or natural satellites, of Saturn. Also known as Saturn XIII (or S13), Telesto is an irregularly shaped (nonspherical) body measuring a...

Schiff, Adam Bennett

(Encyclopedia) Schiff, Adam Bennett, 1960- , American politician, b. Framingham, Ma., Stanford Univ. (B.A., 1982), Harvard Law School (J.D., 1985). ...

sandstorm

(Encyclopedia)sandstorm, strong dry wind blowing over the desert that raises and carries along clouds of sand or dust often so dense as to obscure the sun and reduce visibility almost to zero; also known as a dusts...

Leo IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV (Leo the Khazar), d. 780, Byzantine emperor (775–80), son and successor of Constantine V. He owed his nickname to his mother, a Khazar princess. Leo tempered the iconoclastic excesses of his ...

Browse by Subject