Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

McCain, John Sidney, 3d

(Encyclopedia)McCain, John Sidney, 3d, 1936–2018, U.S. politician, b. Panama Canal Zone. A much decorated navy veteran, he was born into a career naval family and a...

privateering

(Encyclopedia)privateering, former usage of war permitting privately owned and operated war vessels (privateers) under commission of a belligerent government to capture enemy shipping. Private ownership distinguish...

Nicolls, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Nicolls, Richard, 1624–72, first English governor of New York, b. Bedfordshire, England. He served in the English civil war as a royalist and followed the Stuarts into exile, where he entered the se...

Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st earl of nŏtˈĭngəm [key], 1536–1624, English nobleman. A member of one of the branches of the Howard family, he succeeded his father as Baron Howard of Effingham i...

Midway

(Encyclopedia)Midway, island group (2 sq mi/5.2 sq km), central Pacific, c.1,150 mi (1,850 km) NW of Honolulu, comprising Sand and Eastern islands with the surrounding atoll. Discovered by Americans in 1859, Midway...

Morrow, Dwight Whitney

(Encyclopedia)Morrow, Dwight Whitney, 1873–1931, American banker and diplomat, b. Huntington, W.Va. He practiced law in New York City and entered (1914) the banking house of J. P. Morgan & Company. After the ...

Kittery

(Encyclopedia)Kittery kĭtˈərē [key], town (1990 pop. 9,372), York co., extreme SW Maine, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River opposite Portsmouth, N.H.; inc. 1647. Its economy centers around tourism and the Por...

Kotzebue, Otto von

(Encyclopedia)Kotzebue, Otto von ôˈtō vônˈ kôtˈzəbo͞o [key], 1787–1846, Russian naval officer and explorer; son of A. F. F. von Kotzebue. He accompanied A. J. von Krusenstern on his circumnavigation (180...

Antsiranana

(Encyclopedia)Antsiranana dē-āˈgō-swärˈĕs [key], town, N Madagascar, on Antsiranana Bay. The bay, an arm of the Indian Ocean, is one of the world's finest natural harbors; its lo...

Scarborough Shoal

(Encyclopedia)Scarborough Shoal, lagoon and reefs, South China Sea, c.135 mi (220 km) W of Luzon, the Philippines. Claimed by China, the Philippines, and Taiwan, it is called Huangyan Island by China and Panatag Sh...

Browse by Subject