Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

458 results found

Mayo, Henry Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Mayo, Henry Thomas, 1856–1937, American naval officer, b. Burlington, Vt. In 1913 he became commander of the Atlantic Fleet. At Tampico in 1914 he precipitated an international incident by demanding...

Kendrick, John

(Encyclopedia)Kendrick, John, c.1740–1794, American sea captain, b. Massachusetts. During part of the American Revolution he commanded privateers. As commander of an expedition composed of the Columbia and Washin...

Cohan, George Michael

(Encyclopedia)Cohan, George Michael kōhănˈ, kōˈhăn, kōˈən [key], 1878–1942, American showman, b. Providence, R.I. As a child he appeared in vaudeville as one of “The Four Cohans” with his father, mot...

Paris, Declaration of

(Encyclopedia)Paris, Declaration of, 1856, agreement concerning the rules of maritime warfare, issued at the Congress of Paris. It was the first major attempt to codify the international law of the sea. Conflicting...

Sand Creek

(Encyclopedia)Sand Creek, Colorado, site of a massacre (1864) of Cheyenne by Col. John M. Chivington and his Colorado Volunteers. The Cheyennes, led by Black Kettle, had offered to make peace and, at the suggestion...

Shannon, Claude Elwood

(Encyclopedia)Shannon, Claude Elwood, 1916–2001, American applied mathematician, b. Gaylord, Michigan. A student of Vannevar Bush at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was the first to propose th...

signaling

(Encyclopedia)signaling, transmission of information by visible, audible, or other detectable means. Since prehistoric times humans have sought and employed ever more effective means of communicating over distance....

Jareb

(Encyclopedia)Jareb jârˈĭb [key], in the Bible, Assyrian king, perhaps a symbolic name. ...

Kidderminster

(Encyclopedia)Kidderminster, city (1991 pop. 50,385), Worcestershire, W central England. The city had a prosperous cloth trade from the 14th to 18th cent. Kidderminster carpets have been produced since 1735. Associ...

Ellsworth, Elmer Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)Ellsworth, Elmer Ephraim, 1837–61, American Civil War hero, b. near Mechanicville, N.Y. Just before the Civil War he became famous for his Zouave company, which toured the North giving exhibition dr...

Browse by Subject