Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O), former U.S. transportation company with railroad lines in eight states, Washington, D.C., and Ontario, Canada. Founded as the Louisa RR Company in Virginia in ...

Great Dismal Swamp

(Encyclopedia)Great Dismal Swamp, SE Va. and NE N.C. With dense forests and tangled undergrowth, the wetlands are a favorite site for sportsmen and naturalists. It once may have covered nearly 2,200 sq mi (5,700 sq...

Powhatan Confederacy

(Encyclopedia)Powhatan Confederacy, group of Native North Americans belonging to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Their area embraced most of tidewa...

Delaware, state, United States

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Delaware dĕlˈəwâr, –wər [key], one of the Middle Atlantic states of the United States, the country's second smallest state (after Rhode Island). It is bordered by Maryland (W, S), and th...

Hampton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Hampton. <1> City (2020 pop. 8,368), Henry co., central Ga.; est. 1873. Originally known as Bear Creek, the town was moved and renamed when ...

Cambridge, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Cambridge. 1 City (2020 pop. 13,096), seat of Dorchester co., E Md., Eastern Shore, a port of entry on the Choptank River at its mouth on ...

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, former waterway, c.185 mi (300 km) long, from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Md., running along the north bank of the Potomac River. A successor to the Potomac Company's (...

Smithsonian Institution

(Encyclopedia)Smithsonian Institution, research and education center, mainly at Washington, D.C.; founded 1846 under the terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who in 1829 bequeathed his fortune to the Unit...

John Henry

(Encyclopedia)John Henry, legendary African American famous for his strength, celebrated in ballads and tales. In the most popular version of the story, John Henry tries to outwork a steam drill with only his hamme...

Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Menéndez de Avilés, Pedro pāˈᵺrō mānānˈdĕth dā ävēlāsˈ [key], 1519–74, Spanish naval officer and colonizer, founder of Saint Augustine, Fla. He went to sea as a youth and so distingu...
 

Browse by Subject