Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

128 results found

personal watercraft

(Encyclopedia)personal watercraft (PWC), a lightweight vessel usually less than 16 ft (5 m) long that uses an inboard water jet pump, powered by an internal-combustion engine, as its primary source of propulsion. T...

Ankylosaurus

(Encyclopedia)Ankylosaurus ănˌkələsôrˈəs [key], [Gr.,=crooked lizard], genus of heavily armored, herbivorous quadripedal dinosaurs, the best known of which is the species A. magniventris, the largest and hea...

New London

(Encyclopedia)New London, city (1990 pop. 24,540), New London co., SE Conn., on the Thames River near its mouth on Long Island Sound; laid out 1646 by John Winthrop, inc. 1784. It is a deepwater port of entry, with...

Niemoeller, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Niemoeller or Niemöller, Martin both: märˈtĭn nēˈmölər [key], 1892–1984, German Protestant churchman. He studied theology after distinguishing himself as a submarine commander in World War I...

Ashdown, Paddy

(Encyclopedia)Ashdown, Paddy (Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon), 1941–2018, British political leader and diplomat, b. New Delhi, British India, where his father was an army officer. ...

Cholon

(Encyclopedia)Cholon chōlônˈ, Fr. shôlôNˈ [key], district and former city, since 1932 part of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai. Cholon is the Chine...

Northrop, John Knudson

(Encyclopedia)Northrop, John Knudson, 1895–1981, American aviation pioneer, inventor, and executive, b. Newark, N.J. He worked for the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Co. (1916–20) as a draftsman, designing sea...

rudder

(Encyclopedia)rudder, mechanism for steering an airplane or a ship. In ships it is a flat-surfaced structure hinged to the stern and controlled by a helm. When the ship is on a straight course, the rudder is in lin...

Falkirk

(Encyclopedia)Falkirk fŏlˈkûrk [key], town, Falkirk council area, central Scotland, on the Forth and Cly...

Heyerdahl, Thor

(Encyclopedia)Heyerdahl, Thor hāˈərdälˌ, hīˈ– [key], 1914–2002, Norwegian explorer and anthropologist, b. Larvik. He carried out research in the Marquesas Islands in 1937–38 and studied the indigenous ...