Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sacsahuamán

(Encyclopedia)Sacsahuamán säksäwämänˈ [key], stronghold of the Incas outside Cuzco, Peru. Built in the 15th cent., Sacsahuamán is an imposing terraced fortress more than one third of a mile long; it is a mas...

Bam

(Encyclopedia)Bam bäm [key], town, Kerman prov., SE Iran, on the intermittent Bam River. Located on the we...

Mamluk

(Encyclopedia)Mamluk or Mameluke mămˈəlo͞ok [key] [Arab.,=slaves], a warrior caste dominant in Egypt and influential in the Middle East for over 700 years. Islamic rulers created this warrior caste by collectin...

Jarrett, Keith

(Encyclopedia) Jarrett, Keith , 1945- , American jazz pianist and composer, b. Allentown, Pa. A child prodigy on the piano, Jarrett was exposed to contemporary jazz d...

Madison, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Madison. 1 City (1990 pop. 12,006), seat of Jefferson co., SE Ind., on the Ohio River; settled c.1806, inc. 1838. It is a port of entry and a tobacco marketing center. Among its manufactures are trans...

Île-aux-Noix

(Encyclopedia)Île-aux-Noix ēl-ō-nwä [key], island, 210 acres (85 hectares), in the Richelieu River near St. Jean, S Que., Canada; location of Fort Lennox National Historic Site (est. 1921). During the French an...

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst

(Encyclopedia)Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, U.S. military base, central N.J., SE of Trenton; est. 1917 as Camp Dix and named for U.S. statesman John A. Dix. In 1939 it was made a permanent garrison and renamed ...

Fort Caroline

(Encyclopedia)Fort Caroline, settlement near the mouth of the St. Johns River, NE Fla.; est. 1564 by French Huguenots under René de Laudonnière. A Spanish force led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés attacked the fort...

Totleben, Eduard Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Totleben or Todleben, Eduard Ivanovich both: ĕdwärtˈ ēväˈnəvĭch tôtˈlyĕbyĭn [key], 1818–84, Russian general and military engineer. He won his chief renown in the Crimean War by his defen...

Paracel Islands

(Encyclopedia)Paracel Islands päräsĕlˈ [key], Chin. Xisha, group of low coral islands and reefs in the South China Sea, c.175 mi (280 km) SE of Hainan island. They are rich in guano and are underlain by oil dep...
 

Browse by Subject