Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

X Prize Foundation

(Encyclopedia)X Prize Foundation, private, nonprofit prize institute est. 1995 by commercial space entrepreneur Peter Diamandis. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., and funded by foundations and private individuals and ...

transept

(Encyclopedia)transept trănˈsĕptˌ [key], term applied to the transverse portion of a building cutting its main axis at right angles or to each arm of such a portion. Transepts are found chiefly in churches, whe...

Duarte, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Duarte dwärˈtə [key], 1391–1438, king of Portugal (1433–38), eldest of the five sons of John I. He was a “philosopher-king,” notable for his legal reforms and as the author of O leal consel...

Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey

(Encyclopedia)Grosvenor, Gilbert Hovey hŭvˈē grōvˈnər [key], 1875–1966, American editor, b. Constantinople, Turkey. As director (1903–1919) and later as president (1920–54) of the National Geographic So...

Gosnold, Bartholomew

(Encyclopedia)Gosnold, Bartholomew gŏzˈnōld [key], fl. 1572–1607, English explorer and colonizer. In 1602 he commanded the Concord on a voyage of exploration. He navigated the coast from Maine to Narragansett ...

MacKaye, Benton

(Encyclopedia)MacKaye, Benton məkīˈ [key], 1879–1975, American forester and regional planner, b. Stamford, Conn., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1900; M.A. School of Forestry, 1905); son of Steele MacKaye. He was a rese...

Mendocino, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Mendocino, Cape mĕndəsēˈnō [key], westernmost point of California, c.200 mi (320 km) N of San Francisco in Humboldt co. It was discovered and named in 1543 in honor of Antonio de Mendoza by Barto...

Weyprecht, Karl

(Encyclopedia)Weyprecht, Karl kärl vīˈprĕkht [key], 1838–81, German arctic explorer. With Julius von Payer he made a voyage to Novaya Zemlya in 1871. Weyprecht and Payer were leaders of an Austrian expedition...

Puno

(Encyclopedia)Puno po͞oˈnō [key], city (1993 pop. 97,796), alt. 12,648 ft (3,855 m), capital of Puno dept., SE Peru, on an embayment of Lake Titicaca. It is a commercial, tourist, and transportation center of SE...

Myers, Richard Bowman

(Encyclopedia)Myers, Richard Bowman, 1942–, American Air Force general, b. Kansas City, Mo. He studied at Kansas State Univ., graduating and joining the Air Force in 1965; he later attended Auburn Univ. (M.A., 19...