Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Crompton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Crompton, Samuel, 1753–1827, English inventor of the mule spinner, or muslin wheel, an important step in the development of fine cotton spinning. Working as a young man in a spinning mill, he knew t...

De la Rue, Warren

(Encyclopedia)De la Rue, Warren dĕlˈəro͞o, dĕləro͞oˈ [key], 1815–89, British scientist and inventor. Especially noted as an astronomer, he was a pioneer in celestial photography. He adapted the wet-plate ...

Fond du Lac

(Encyclopedia)Fond du Lac fŏnˈ də lăkˌ, –jə– [key], city (2021 pop. 104,154), seat of Fon...

Hollerith, Herman

(Encyclopedia)Hollerith, Herman hōˈlərĭth [key], 1860–1929, American inventor, b. Buffalo, N.Y. After graduating from Columbia Univ. (B.S., 1879), he worked on the U.S. Census of 1880. Intrigued by the proble...

Halesowen

(Encyclopedia)Halesowen hālzˈōwən [key], city, Dudley metropolitan district, central England. Listed in the ...

Kamyanets-Podilskyy

(Encyclopedia)Kamyanets-Podilskyy kəmyänˈyĭts-pôdyĭlˈskyē [key], Rus. Kamenets-Podolski, city (1989 pop. 102,000), Khmelnytskyy region, Ukraine. It is a rail terminus and has industries that produce foodstu...

Stryy

(Encyclopedia)Stryy strē [key], Pol. Stryj, city (1989 pop. 67,000), Ukraine, on the Stryy River (a tributary of the Dniester) and in the Carpathian foothills. It is a major rail junction and a center of the Droho...

Xuzhou

(Encyclopedia)Xuzhou or Suchow both: sho͞oˈjōˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 879,800), N Jiangsu prov., E central China. It is a rail center at the junction of railroads serving Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui, and Huna...

Renoir, Pierre Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Renoir, Pierre Auguste rənwärˈ [key], 1841–1919, French impressionist painter and sculptor, b. Limoges. Renoir went to work at the age of 13 in Paris as a decorator of factory-made porcelain, co...

Lowe, Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt

(Encyclopedia)Lowe, Thaddeus Sobieski Coulincourt thădˈēəs sōˌbē-ĕsˈkē kōˈlĭnkôrtˌ lō [key], 1832–1913, American aeronaut and inventor, b. Coos co., N.H. He flew (1861) a distance of 900 mi (1,448...