Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Semmes, Raphael

(Encyclopedia)Semmes, Raphael sĕmz [key], 1809–77, American naval officer, b. Charles co., Md. He took part in the Mexican War, practiced law at Mobile, Ala., and was in the Lighthouse Service from 1856 to Feb.,...

Fort Mims

(Encyclopedia)Fort Mims, temporary stockade near the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. It was the scene of a massacre (Aug. 30, 1813); William Weatherford led a Native American force in the killing of...

Mobile, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mobile mōbēlˈ, mōˈbēlˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 196,278), seat of Mobile co., SW Ala., at the head of Mobile Bay and at the mouth of the Mobile River; inc. 1814. Lying on one of the continent's g...

Wood, Clement

(Encyclopedia)Wood, Clement, 1888–1950, American writer, b. Tuscaloosa, Ala., grad. Univ. of Alabama, 1909, LL.B. Yale, 1911. Among his many works are books on the craft of poetry; biographies, including a critic...

Tallapoosa

(Encyclopedia)Tallapoosa, river, 268 mi (431 km) long, rising in NW Ga. and flowing SW through E Ala.; joins the Coosa River near Montgomery, Ala., to form the Alabama River. Martin, Thurlow, and Yates dams provide...

Cheaha

(Encyclopedia)Cheaha chēˈhô [key], peak, 2,407 ft (734 m) high, E Ala., in the Talladega Mts.; highest point in Alabama. It is included in Talladega National Forest. ...

Choctaw

(Encyclopedia)Choctaw chŏkˈtô [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They formerly occupied central and...

Black Belt

(Encyclopedia)Black Belt, term applied to several areas of Mississippi and Alabama, the heart of the Old South, which are characterized by black soil and excellent cotton-growing conditions. The Black Belt area was...

American University in Cairo

(Encyclopedia)American University in Cairo, at Cairo, Egypt; English language; founded 1919. It has faculties of anthropology, computer science, economics and political science, engineering, English and comparative...

New Mexico State University

(Encyclopedia)New Mexico State University, at Las Cruces; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered and opened 1889 as a college. It became New Mexico State Univ. of Engineering, Agriculture, and Sci...

Browse by Subject