Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bate, William Brimage

(Encyclopedia)Bate, William Brimage brĭmˈĭj [key], 1826–1905, U.S. politician and Confederate general, b. Castalian Springs, Tenn. He served in the Mexican War and was involved in Tennessee politics before ent...

Coninxloo, Gillis van

(Encyclopedia)Coninxloo or Koninksloo, Gillis van both: gĭlˈĭs vän kōˈnĭngkslō [key], 1544–1607, Flemish landscape painter. His Judgment of Midas (Dresden), Latona (Hermitage, St. Petersburg), and above a...

Guareschi, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Guareschi, Giovanni jōväˈnē gwärĕsˈkē [key], 1908–68, Italian journalist and novelist. Guareschi edited a humorous weekly before World War II and in 1945 helped to found the popular weekly C...

North Atlantic Drift

(Encyclopedia)North Atlantic Drift, warm ocean current in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a continuation of the Gulf Stream, the merging point being at lat. 40°N and long. 60°W. Off the British Isl...

Keyser, Thomas de

(Encyclopedia)Keyser, Thomas de də kīˈzər [key], c.1596–1667, Dutch portrait and figure painter of Amsterdam. He was the outstanding practitioner in his field prior to Rembrandt. De Keyser's work is distingui...

date

(Encyclopedia)date, name for a palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and for its edible fruit. Probably native to Arabia and North Africa, it has from earliest times been a principal food in many desert and tropical regions. ...

rainmaking

(Encyclopedia)rainmaking, production of rain by artificial means now generally disregarded, though it is probable that rainmaking hastens or increases rainfall from clouds suitable for natural rainfall. Interest in...

Echternach

(Encyclopedia)Echternach ĕkhˈtərnäkhˌ [key], town, E Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, on the Sûre (Sauer) R...

D'Entrecasteaux Islands

(Encyclopedia)D'Entrecasteaux Islands däNtrəkästōˈ [key], volcanic group, SW Pacific, SE of New Guinea, part of Papua New Guinea. Comprising the Fergusson, Goodenough, and Normanby islands, the group, with a t...

Dunbar, William, American scientist

(Encyclopedia)Dunbar, William, 1749–1810, American scientist in the old Southwest, b. near Elgin, Scotland. He came to America in 1771. Commissioned by President Jefferson to investigate the Ouachita and Red Rive...