Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Daly City

(Encyclopedia)Daly City, city (2020 pop. 104,901), San Mateo co., W Calif., a suburb of San Francisco; inc. 1911. Daly City is primarily residential, its population h...

Milk, Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Milk, Harvey, 1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in th...

Alcatraz

(Encyclopedia)Alcatraz ălˈkətrăzˌ [key] [Sp. Álcatraces=pelicans], rocky island in San Francisco Bay, W Calif, about one mile (1.61 km) north of San Francisco. Alcatraz was first sighted by the Spanish in 177...

Central Valley

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley, great trough of central Calif., c.450 mi (720 km) long and c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain much of the...

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...

San Juan, city, Puerto Rico

(Encyclopedia)San Juan, city (1990 pop. 437,745), capital, largest city, chief port, and commercial and cultural center of Puerto Rico, NE Puerto Rico. Coffee, tobacco, sugar, and fruit are exported from the busy p...

Aso-san

(Encyclopedia)Aso-san äˈsō-sän [key] or Mount Aso, volcanic mountain, central Kyushu, Japan. Aso-san is topped by one of the world's largest calderas (circumference 75 mi/121 km) that contains five volcanic con...

San Felipe

(Encyclopedia)San Felipe săn fəlēˈpā [key], pueblo (1990 pop. 1,557), Sandoval co., N central N.Mex., on the Rio Grande; founded early 18th cent. The inhabitants are Pueblo of the Keresan linguistic family. Ce...

San Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)San Gabriel săn gāˈbrēəl [key], city (1990 pop. 37,120), Los Angeles co., SW Calif.; inc. 1913. Fabric, furniture, paper products, tools, and aircraft parts are manufactured. An annual three-day ...

San Germán

(Encyclopedia)San Germán sän hārmänˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 34,962), SW Puerto Rico, in an agricultural area producing coffee, sugar, tobacco, and fruit. The original village was founded in 1511, but it was ea...

Browse by Subject