Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

486 results found

Johnston Atoll

(Encyclopedia)Johnston Atoll, atoll, 2.8 sq mi (7.25 sq km), central Pacific, c.700 nautical mi (1,300 km) SW of Honolulu, central Pacific, an uninc. territory of the United States. It consists of four islands and ...

Jutland, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Jutland, battle of, only major engagement between the British and German fleets in World War I. They met c.60 mi (100 km) west of the coast of Jutland. On May 31, 1916, a British squadron under Admira...

Bourassa, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Bourassa, Henri äNrēˈ bo͞oräsäˈ [key], 1868–1952, Canadian political leader and publisher, b. Montreal; grandson of Louis Joseph Papineau. He was elected as an Independent Liberal to the Cana...

Morison, Samuel Eliot

(Encyclopedia)Morison, Samuel Eliot, 1887–1976, American historian, b. Boston. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1912 and began teaching history there in 1915, becoming full professor in 1925 and Jonathan Tru...

Muskie, Edmund Sixtus

(Encyclopedia)Muskie, Edmund Sixtus, 1914–96, U.S. Senator (1959–80), b. Rumford, Maine. A lawyer, he sat (1947–51) in the Maine legislature after serving in the navy in World War II. He later became (1955) M...

Massawa

(Encyclopedia)Massawa məsäˈwə [key], city (1984 pop. 15,441), Eritrea, a port on the Red Sea. Before Eritrean independence (1993) it was the main port for N Ethiopia and is linked by rail with Asmara. Agreement...

Schley, Winfield Scott

(Encyclopedia)Schley, Winfield Scott slī [key], 1839–1911, American naval officer, b. Frederick co., Md. After serving with Union naval forces in the Civil War, he held various naval posts. In 1884 he commanded ...

Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

Taranto

(Encyclopedia)Taranto täˈräntō [key], Lat. Tarentum, city (1991 pop. 232,334), capital of Taranto prov., Apulia, S Italy, on the Gulf of Taranto, an arm of the Ionian Sea. Taranto is, after La Spezia, the chief...

chronicle

(Encyclopedia)chronicle, official record of events, set down in order of occurrence, important to the people of a nation, state, or city. Almanacs, The Congressional Record in the United States, and the Annual Regi...