Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Telford, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Telford, Thomas, 1757–1834, Scottish civil engineer. He greatly improved road building in England and Scotland. He introduced the use of a base of large stones surfaced with compacted layers of smal...

Renton

(Encyclopedia)Renton, city (1990 pop. 41,688), King co., W Wash., an industrial suburb of Seattle, on Lake Washington; inc. 1901. It is a freshwater port of entry via the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Its first impor...

Dmitrov

(Encyclopedia)Dmitrov dəmēˈtrəf [key], city, N central European Russia, on the Moscow Canal. Dmitrov was founded in 1154. In the 13th cent. it became the capital of an independent duchy that was united with the...

Quinte, Bay of

(Encyclopedia)Quinte, Bay of kwĭnˈtē [key], arm of Lake Ontario, S Ont., Canada, between the mainland and the peninsula of Prince Edward co. With its approach, Adolphus Reach, it is 60 mi (97 km) long. The Trent...

Keighley

(Encyclopedia)Keighley kēthˈlē [key], town (1991 pop. 49,188), Bradford metropolitan district, N central England, at the junction of the Aire and Worth rivers. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal connects Keighley wit...

Spuyten Duyvil Creek

(Encyclopedia)Spuyten Duyvil Creek spīˈtən dīˈvəl [key], tidal channel, now a ship canal, c.1 mi (1.6 km) long, SE N.Y., in New York City. It separates the northern tip of Manhattan island from the mainland a...

Pickett, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pickett, Joseph, 1848–1918, American primitive painter, b. New Hope, Pa., where he lived all his life. He worked as a carpenter, canal-boat builder, and grocer. At about age 65, Pickett turned to pa...

polar front

(Encyclopedia)polar front, zone of transition between polar and tropical air masses. Its average position during the winter is at about 30° lat. and during the summer at about 60° lat. In the N Atlantic Ocean, fo...

hepatica

(Encyclopedia)hepatica hĭpătˈĭkə [key] or liverleaf, any plant of the genus Hepatica of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), low, woodland, spring wildflowers of the north temperate zone, popular for w...

Dworkin, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Dworkin, Andrea, 1946–2019, American feminist writer and activist, b. Camden, N.J., B.A. Bennington College, 1968. A fierce opponent of pornography and of violence against women, she is best known f...