Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fort Abercrombie

(Encyclopedia)Fort Abercrombie ăbˈərkrŏmˌbē, –krŭmˌbē [key], U.S. army post on the west bank of the Red River, at Abercrombie, N.Dak.; est. 1858. Built to protect settlers in the Red River valley from at...

Fort McMurray

(Encyclopedia)Fort McMurray, former city, now part of the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo, NE Alta., Canada. Originally a fur-trading post on the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers, Fort McMurray was a town of 1...

Fort Nassau

(Encyclopedia)Fort Nassau. 1 Built (1614) on Castle Island, in the Hudson River, S of Albany, N.Y. The fort served as a trading post for the Dutch until 1617, when it was destroyed by flood and replaced (1624) by F...

Francis, David Rowland

(Encyclopedia)Francis, David Rowland, 1850–1927, U.S. Secretary of the Interior (1896–97), b. Richmond, Ky. He established a large grain business in St. Louis, entered politics, and served (1885–89) as mayor ...

Hill, Sir Rowland

(Encyclopedia)Hill, Sir Rowland, 1795–1879, English educator, inventor, and postal reformer. He introduced the system of self-government in his school at Hazelwood in Birmingham. In his Plans for the Government a...

Woodin, William Hartman

(Encyclopedia)Woodin, William Hartman wo͝odˈən [key], 1868–1934, American cabinet officer, b. Berwick, Pa. After studying engineering at Columbia, he entered (1892) the railroad-equipment firm founded by his g...

Bercow, John Simon

(Encyclopedia)Bercow, John Simon, 1963–, British politician. A member of the Conservative party, he was first elected to Parliament in 1997. In 2009, Bercow was elected speaker of the House of Commons, a post he ...

Yankton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Yankton, city (1990 pop. 12,703), seat of Yankton co., extreme SE S.Dak., on the Missouri River; inc. 1869. A railroad and trade center in an agricultural region, it has grain elevators, creameries, a...

Wad Madani

(Encyclopedia)Wad Madani wäd mädäˈnē [key], city (1993 pop. 211,362), SE cental Sudan, on the Blue Nile River. It is linked by rail with Khartoum and is the chief center of the Al Gezira agricultural region. C...

White, Bouck

(Encyclopedia)White, Bouck bouk [key], 1874–1951, American clergyman and author, b. Middleburg, N.Y. He was ordained as a Congregational minister in 1904 but was dismissed from his post at Trinity House, Brooklyn...