Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Church, Frederick Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Church, Frederick Edwin, 1826–1900, American landscape painter of the Hudson River school, b. Hartford, Conn., studied with Thomas Cole at Catskill, N.Y. He traveled and painted in North and South A...

Coast Ranges

(Encyclopedia)Coast Ranges, series of mountain ranges along the Pacific coast of North America, extending from SE Alaska to Baja California; from 2,000 to 20,000 ft (610–6,100 m) high. The ranges include the St. ...

Albany Congress

(Encyclopedia)Albany Congress, 1754, meeting at Albany, N.Y., of commissioners representing seven British colonies in North America to treat with the Iroquois, chiefly because war with France impended. A treaty was...

Gray, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Robert, 1755–1806, American sea captain, discoverer of the Columbia River, b. Tiverton, R.I. He probably served in the Continental navy in the American Revolution. In 1787 he and Capt. John Ke...

Habib, Philip Charles

(Encyclopedia)Habib, Philip Charles häbēbˈ [key], 1920–92, American diplomat, b. New York City. A career foreign service officer (1949–80), he served in various embassy and State Dept. posts. Habib took part...

Jackson Hole

(Encyclopedia)Jackson Hole, fertile Rocky Mt. valley, c.50 mi (80 km) long and 6 to 8 mi (9.6–12.8 km) wide, NW Wyo., partly in Grand Teton National Park. Jackson Lake, 39 sq mi (101 sq km), a natural lake throug...

Monck, Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Monck, Charles Stanley, 4th Viscount mŭngk [key], 1819–94, governor-general of Canada, b. Ireland. An Irish peer, he was elected (1852) to the British House of Commons as a Liberal and was (1855–...

McDonald Observatory

(Encyclopedia)McDonald Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Mt. Locke, near Fort Davis, Tex.; founded in 1932, sponsored by the Univ. of Texas in cooperation with the Univ. of Chicago. Its equipment inc...

lespedeza

(Encyclopedia)lespedeza lĕsˌpədēˈzə [key] or bush clover, any plant of the genus Lespedeza, leguminous herbs or undershrubs of the family Leguminosae (pulse family); native to North America, Asia, and Austral...

Byrd, Robert Carlyle

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, Robert Carlyle, 1917–2010, U.S. senator from West Virginia (1959–2010), b. North Wilkesboro, N.C., as Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. A Democrat, he served (1947–52) in the West Virginia legisl...