Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Jenkins, John, American pioneer, 1728–85

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins, John, 1728–85, American pioneer, b. probably Connecticut. In 1753, Jenkins explored the Wyoming Valley for the proposed Susquehanna Company. A settlement (1762) under his leadership was des...

Concord, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Concord, river, c.15 mi (24 km) long, NE Mass., a short tributary of the Merrimack, which it joins at Lowell. On Apr. 19, 1775, colonial militia fired some of the first shots of the American Revolutio...

Glastonbury, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Glastonbury, town (2020 pop. 35,159), Hartford co., central Conn., a suburb of Hartford on the Connecticut River; inc. 1690. Located near a farming regi...

Yakima, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Yakima yăkˈəmô, –mə [key], indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the earl...

Exchequer, Court of

(Encyclopedia)Exchequer, Court of ĕkschĕkˈər, ĕksˈchĕkˌər [key], in English history, governmental agency. It originated after the Norman Conquest as a financial committee of the Curia Regis. By the reign o...

Rhode Island, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rhode Island, smallest state in the United States, located in New England; bounded by Massachusetts (N and E), the Atlantic Ocean (S), and Connecticut (W). Until well into the 20th cent. ...

foreign aid

(Encyclopedia)foreign aid, economic, military, technical, and financial assistance given on an international, and usually intergovernmental level. U.S. foreign aid programs have included at least three different ob...

Oxford, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Oxford. 1 Town (1990 pop. 12,588), Worcester co., S Mass.; settled 1687 by French Protestants, inc. 1693. It is chiefly residential, with some light manufacturing. Clara Barton was born in the town. 2...

Stratford, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Stratford, town (1990 pop. 49,389), Fairfield co., SW Conn., at the mouth of the Housatonic River on Long Island Sound; inc. 1639. Transportation equipment; helicopters; machinery; hardware items; ele...

Winthrop, John, 1714–79, American scientist

(Encyclopedia)Winthrop, John, 1714–79, American scientist, b. Boston, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1732. Because of his study of earthquakes, he is sometimes called the founder of seismology. He made scientific observat...