Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bonpland, Aimé Jacques Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Bonpland, Aimé Jacques Alexandre āmāˈ zhäkˈ älĕksäNˈdrə bôNpläNˈ [key], 1773–1858, French surgeon and naturalist who accompanied Alexander von Humboldt on his expedition in Latin Ameri...

Frasconi, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Frasconi, Antonio äntōˈnyō fräskōˈnē [key], 1919–2013, American graphic artist, b. Buenos Aires. His family moved to Uruguay weeks after his birth. Frasconi immigrated to the United States i...

Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston

(Encyclopedia)Breckinridge, Sophonisba Preston, 1866–1948, American pioneer social worker, educator, and author, b. Lexington, Ky., grad. Wellesley, 1888, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1901. She was the first woman to ...

Lacalle Herrera, Luis Alberto

(Encyclopedia)Lacalle Herrera, Luis Alberto, 1941–, Uruguayan political leader, president of Uruguay (1990–95). A lawyer and member of the conservative National (Blanco) party, he worked as a journalist and ser...

Gaborone

(Encyclopedia)Gaborone gäbərōˈnē [key], city (1992 est. pop. 140,000), capital of Botswana. It is located on the country's major railroad line and has a small international airport. The city is the country's a...

Downing, Andrew Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Downing, Andrew Jackson, 1815–52, American horticulturist, rural architect, and landscape gardener, b. Newburgh, N.Y. With his brother Charles Downing, 1802–85, he took over the operation of the n...

Artigas, José Gervasio

(Encyclopedia)Artigas, José Gervasio hōsāˈ hārväˈsyō ärtēˈgäs [key], 1764–1850, national hero of Uruguay, first leader in the movement toward independence. He came from the cattle-raising region Banda...

Constitutional Union party

(Encyclopedia)Constitutional Union party, in U.S. history, formed when the conflict between North and South broke down the older parties. The Constitutional Union group, composed of former Whigs and remnants of the...

Vespucci, Amerigo

(Encyclopedia)Vespucci, Amerigo ämārēˈgō vāspo͞otˈchē [key], 1454–1512, Italian navigator in whose honor America was named, b. Florence. He entered the commercial service of the Medici and in 1492 moved ...

Browse by Subject