Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

pageant

(Encyclopedia)pageant, modern dramatic spectacle or procession celebrating a special occasion or an event in the history of a locality. In medieval times the word pageant had meant the wagon or the movable stage on...

Irkutsk

(Encyclopedia)Irkutsk ĭrko͞otskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 626,000), capital of Irkutsk region, S Siberian Russia, at the confluence of the Angara and Irkut rivers. It is an industrial center, a port, the site of a...

iron lung

(Encyclopedia)iron lung, device used to maintain artificial respiration over an extended period of time. Before the successful vaccination program against poliomyelitis, it was used mostly in treatment of that dise...

Jinan

(Encyclopedia)Jinan tsĭnˈänˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 1,659,900), capital of Shandong prov., E China. It lies 3 mi (4.8 km) S of the Huang He (Yellow River) and is a railroad junction on the network linking ...

Hague, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Hague, Frank hāg [key], 1876–1956, American politician, mayor of Jersey City, N.J., b. Jersey City. He worked his way up through the ranks of the local Democratic machine and was elected (1913) to ...

Arad, city, Romania

(Encyclopedia)Arad ärädˈ [key], city, W Romania, in the Banat, on the Mureşul River, near the Hungarian border. It is an important railroad junction and a leading regional commercia...

Bryansk

(Encyclopedia)Bryansk brēänskˈ [key], city (2020 est. pop. 399,000), capital of Bryansk region, central ...

Whittle, Sir Frank

(Encyclopedia)Whittle, Sir Frank, 1907–96, English aeronautical engineer. Whittle was one of the first persons to associate the gas turbine with jet propulsion. Previously the gas turbine had been regarded as a m...

Wuxi

(Encyclopedia)Wuxi or Wusih both: wo͞o-shē [key], city (1994 est. pop. 863,100), S Jiangsu prov., China, on the Grand Canal and the north bank of Tai lake. It is a silk-producing center. Foods (especially grains)...

Vologda

(Encyclopedia)Vologda vôˈləgdə [key], city (1989 pop. 283,000), capital of Vologda region, N central European Russia, on the Vologda River. It is a major river and rail junction in a dairying region. There are ...

Browse by Subject