Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

brown dwarf

(Encyclopedia)brown dwarf, in astronomy, celestial body that is larger than a planet but does not have sufficient mass to convert hydrogen into helium via nuclear fusion as stars do. Also called “failed stars,”...

Needham

(Encyclopedia)Needham nēdˈəm [key], town (1990 pop. 27,557), Norfolk co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston; founded 1680, set off from Dedham and inc. 1711. Although largely residential, paper products, electronic eq...

Northeastern University

(Encyclopedia)Northeastern University, at Boston, Mass.; coeducational; founded 1898 as a program within the Boston YMCA, inc. 1916, university status 1922, fully independent of the YMCA 1948. It is noted for its c...

Attleboro

(Encyclopedia)Attleboro ătˈəlbərə [key], industrial city (2020 pop. 46,461), Bristol co., SE Mass., near the R.I. line; settled 1634, inc. as a city 1914. Its jewelry industry bega...

Tewksbury

(Encyclopedia)Tewksbury, town (1990 pop. 27,266), Middlesex co., NE Mass.; settled 1637, set off from Billerica and inc. 1734. It was once the site of a Native American settlement. Primarily residential, the town h...

Revere

(Encyclopedia)Revere, city (1990 pop. 42,786), Suffolk co., E Mass., a residential suburb of Boston, on Massachusetts Bay; settled c.1630, set off from Chelsea and named for Paul Revere 1871, inc. as a city 1914. I...

Scituate

(Encyclopedia)Scituate sĭchˈo͝owāt, –wĭt [key], town (1990 pop. 16,786), Plymouth co., SE Mass., on the Atlantic coast about midway between Boston and Plymouth; settled c.1630, inc. 1636. It is a residential...

Church, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Church, Benjamin, 1639–1718, New England colonial soldier in King Philip's War, b. Plymouth, Mass. He took a leading part in the Great Swamp Fight (Dec., 1675), W of Kingston, R.I., and finally hunt...

Clark University

(Encyclopedia)Clark University, at Worcester, Mass.; coeducational; chartered 1887, opened as a graduate school 1889. It was the second graduate school to be formed in the United States. Its undergraduate college (...

Danforth, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Danforth, Thomas, 1703–86, American pewterer, founder of a family of celebrated pewterers, b. Taunton, Mass. In 1733 he opened a pewter shop in Norwich, Conn., where he made a wide variety of pewter...