Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Coffin, James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Coffin, James Henry, 1806–73, American mathematician and meteorologist, was professor of mathematics and physics, Lafayette College, 1846–73. In an observatory which he built on Mt. Greylock, Mass...

Rodez

(Encyclopedia)Rodez rôdĕzˈ [key], city (1993 pop. 26,794), capital of Aveyron dept., S France. It is a farm trade center; gloves and plastics are made. An episcopal see since the 4th cent., it was the historic c...

Pekah

(Encyclopedia)Pekah pēˈkə [key], in the Bible, king of Israel. He was a general under King Pekahiah and murdered him for the throne. As the head of an anti-Assyrian coalition, he went to war with Ahaz of Judah. ...

Port Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Port Jackson or Sydney Harbour, inlet of the Pacific Ocean, 22 sq mi (57 sq km), 12 mi (19 km) long and 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide at its mouth, New South Wales, Australia, forming Australia's finest harbor...

Tyana

(Encyclopedia)Tyana tīˈənə [key], town of ancient Cappadocia, at the northern foot of the Taurus range, in present S central Turkey. A powerful military fortress and a prosperous commercial center as early as t...

Timan

(Encyclopedia)Timan tyēmänˈ [key], mountain ridge, c.350 mi (560 km) long, Komi Republic, NE European Russia. The low Timan ridge divides the extensive Dvina-Pechora lowland into the E Pechora River basin and th...

Tocantins , state, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Tocantins to͝okəntēnsˈ [key], state (1996 pop. 1,048,514), 110,700 sq mi (286,787 sq km), N central Brazil. Palmas is the capital. Created in 1988 from the northern half of Goiás state, Tocantins...

Trafalgar Square

(Encyclopedia)Trafalgar Square, in Westminster, London, England, named for Lord Nelson's victory at the battle of Trafalgar. The statue surmounting the Nelson memorial column (185 ft/56 m high) was sculpted (1840�...

Rathlin Island

(Encyclopedia)Rathlin Island răthˈlĭn [key], 5 sq mi (13 sq km), Moyle dist., N Northern Ireland. Its cliffs, of limestone and basalt, rise at Slieveacarn to 449 ft (137 m). Farming and fishing are important. St...

Bandar-e Torkaman

(Encyclopedia)Bandar-e Torkaman tôrˌkämänˈ [key] town, Mazandaran prov., N Iran, on the Caspian Sea. The town has ...