Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), first U.S. public railroad, chartered in 1827 by a group of Baltimore businessmen to regain trans-Allegheny traffic lost to the newly opened Erie Canal. Constr...

Harvey, Fred

(Encyclopedia)Harvey, Fred (Frederick Henry Harvey), 1835–1901, Anglo-American entrepreneur and restauranteur, the father of America's hospitality industry, b. London. He sailed to New York City in 1850, worked i...

Atchison

(Encyclopedia)Atchison, city (2020 pop. 10,348), seat of Atchison co., NE Kans., on the Missouri River; inc. 1881. It is a trade and industrial center in a rich grain producing area. Atchison was founde...

Santa Rosa Island

(Encyclopedia)Santa Rosa Island, narrow barrier beach between the Gulf of Mexico and Santa Rosa Sound, NW Fla. in the vicinity of Pensacola, extending c.50 mi (80 km) parallel to the coast. It is the site of Fort P...

Santa Margherita Ligure

(Encyclopedia)Santa Margherita Ligure sänˈtä märgərēˈtä lēgo͝oˈrā [key], town (1991 pop. 11,077), Liguria, NW Italy, on the Ligurian Sea. It is a winter health resort and tourist center known for its la...

Santa Cruz, Andrés

(Encyclopedia)Santa Cruz, Andrés ändrāsˈ sänˈtä kro͞os [key], 1792?–1865, president of Bolivia (1829–39). In 1820 he joined the revolutionists against Spain and, as Bolívar's chief of staff, participat...

Trans-Siberian Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Trans-Siberian Railroad, rail line, linking European Russia with the Pacific coast. Its construction began in 1891, on the initiative of Count S. Y. Witte, and was completed in 1905. The completion of...

McPherson

(Encyclopedia)McPherson, city (1990 pop. 12,422), seat of McPherson co., central Kans., in a farm area on the old Santa Fe Trail; inc. 1874. The city has an oil refinery and factories that make plastics, railroad e...

Santa María, Domingo

(Encyclopedia)Santa María, Domingo dōmēngˈgō sänˈtä märēˈä [key], 1825–89, Chilean historian and statesman, president of Chile (1881–86). A liberal statesman, scholar, and author of several historic...

Browse by Subject