Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Arbour, Al

(Encyclopedia)Arbour, Al (Alger Joseph Arbour), 1932–2015, Canadian ice hockey player and coach. A defenseman, he joined the Detroit Red Wings in 1953, then moved to the Chicago Black Hawks in 1958, Toronto Maple...

Danakil

(Encyclopedia)Danakil, desert region, NE Ethiopia and neighboring portions of Djibouti and Eritrea, c.350 mi (560 km) long and 50–250 mi (80–400 km) wide, between the gulfs of Zula and Tadjoura. It is bordered ...

Clancy, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Clancy, Tom (Thomas Leo Clancy, Jr.), 1947–2013, American popular novelist, b. Baltimore, grad. Loyola Univ. Maryland (B.A., 1969). While working as an insurance agent he wrote The Hunt for Red Octo...

rockfish

(Encyclopedia)rockfish, member of the family Sebastidae (rockfishes) according some authorities, but also classified as a member of the family Scorpaenidae (scorpionfishes, lionfishes, and rockfishes) by other auth...

Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss

(Encyclopedia)Banks, Nathaniel Prentiss, 1816–94, American politician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Waltham, Mass. After serving in the Massachusetts legislature (1849–53), Banks entered Congress as a ...

Scholz's star

(Encyclopedia)Scholz's star, dim binary star system, consisting of a red dwarf and brown dwarf, in the constellation Monoceros, apparent magnitude 18.3. The red dwarf is a tiny star, with less than ten percent the ...

Voroshilov, Kliment Yefremovich

(Encyclopedia)Voroshilov, Kliment Yefremovich vôrəshēˈlŏf, Rus. klyĭmyĕntˈ yəfrĕmˈəvĭch vərəshēˈləf [key], 1881–1969, Soviet military leader and public official. A Bolshevik from 1903, he was an...

squill

(Encyclopedia)squill, common name for two genera of Old World bulbous plants of the family Liliaceae (lily family). The horticulturists' squill is any plant of the genus Scilla, mostly spring-blooming low herbs wit...

George, Saint

(Encyclopedia)George, Saint, 4th cent.?, perhaps a soldier in the imperial army who died for the faith in Asia Minor. His life is cloaked in legends; Gibbon's identification of him with George of Cappadocia is fals...

Fraser, Simon, Canadian explorer

(Encyclopedia)Fraser, Simon, 1776–1862, Canadian explorer and fur trader. Born in Bennington, Vt., he was taken to Canada as a child. He entered the service of the North West Company in 1792, and in 1801 he was m...
 

Browse by Subject