Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Clipperton Island

(Encyclopedia)Clipperton Island, uninhabited atoll, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in the Pacific Ocean, c.800 mi (1,290 km) SW of Mexico. It was used as a base by John Clipperton, an English pirate. The French claimed it ...

Céspedes, Carlos Manuel de, 1871–1939, president of Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Céspedes, Carlos Manuel de, 1871–1939, president of Cuba (1933), b. New York City; son of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (1819–74). He actively participated in the Revolution of 1895 and the Spanish-...

North American Free Trade Agreement

(Encyclopedia)North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. NAF...

García y Iñigues, Calixto

(Encyclopedia)García y Iñigues, Calixto kälēkˈstō gärsēˈä ē ĕnyēˈgās [key], 1839–98, Cuban revolutionist, a leader in the Ten Years War (1868–78). Captured and imprisoned until 1878, he entered u...

Pershing, John Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pershing, John Joseph pûrˈshĭng [key], 1860–1948, American army officer and commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, b. Linn co., Mo. After graduating (1886) from We...

Copley, John Singleton, American portrait painter

(Encyclopedia)Copley, John Singleton kŏpˈlē [key], 1738–1815, American portrait painter, b. Boston. Copley is considered the greatest of the American old masters. He studied with his stepfather, Peter Pelham, ...

Yamasee

(Encyclopedia)Yamasee, Yamasi yĕmˈ– [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the late 16th cent., wh...

Yankee

(Encyclopedia)Yankee, term used by Americans generally in reference to a native of New England and by non-Americans, especially the British, in reference to an American of any section. The word is most likely from ...

Remington, Frederic

(Encyclopedia)Remington, Frederic, 1861–1909, American painter, sculptor, illustrator, and writer, b. Canton, N.Y., studied at the Yale School of Fine Arts and the Art Students League. His subjects, drawn largely...

Day, William Rufus

(Encyclopedia)Day, William Rufus, 1849–1923, American statesman and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1903–22), b. Ravenna, Ohio. Admitted (1872) to the bar, Day practiced law in Ohio and served (188...