Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rives, William Cabell

(Encyclopedia)Rives, William Cabell rēvz [key], 1793–1868, American politician and diplomat, b. Nelson co. (then part of Amherst co.), Va. A lawyer, he sat in the Virginia legislature (1817–21, 1822–23), was...

blasting

(Encyclopedia)blasting, shattering, breaking, or splitting of rock or other material by the discharge of an explosive placed within or in contact with it. It is a necessary part of many engineering operations. An a...

Spartanburg

(Encyclopedia)Spartanburg, city (1990 pop. 43,467), seat of Spartanburg co., NW S.C., in the Piedmont (see under piedmont) near the N.C. line; inc. 1831. The city is noted for its textile production. It is an impor...

Phoenician art

(Encyclopedia)Phoenician art. The Phoenician region developed as a major trade center of the ancient world; consequently Phoenician art clearly reflects the influences of Egypt, Syria, and Greece. Phoenician deitie...

Carver, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Carver, George Washington, 1864?–1943, American agricultural chemist, b. Diamond, Mo., grad. Iowa State College (now Iowa State Univ.; B.S., 1894; M.A. 1896). Born a slave, he later, as a free man, ...

tile

(Encyclopedia)tile, one of the ceramic products used in building, to which group brick and terra-cotta also belong. The term designates the finished baked clay—the material of a wide variety of units used in arch...

Nerchinsk

(Encyclopedia)Nerchinsk nyĕrˈchĭnsk [key], city, SE Siberian Russia. Founded in 1654, the city was a Russian outpost in E Asia from the 17th to the 19th cent. A Russo-Chinese border treaty signed at Nerchinsk in...

Kiaochow

(Encyclopedia)Kiaochow jēouˈjōˈ [key], former German territory, area c.200 sq mi (520 sq km), along the southern coast of Shandong prov., China. Its administrative center was the city of Qingdao. Germany leased...

Yellow Sea

(Encyclopedia)Yellow Sea or Huanghai hwäng-hī [key] [yellow sea], arm of the Pacific Ocean, between China and Korea, where it is called the West Sea. It has a maximum depth of 500 ft (152 m). Bohai, Korea Bay (or...

Yumen

(Encyclopedia)Yumen yü-mŭn [key], city, NW Gansu prov., China. It was long one of China's leading petroleum centers, with oil fields and refineries, but output has steadily declined since the 1960s. Yumen, on the...

Browse by Subject