Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Valla, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Valla, Lorenzo lōrānˈtsō välˈlä [key], c.1407–57, Italian humanist. Valla knew Greek and Latin well and was chosen by Pope Nicholas V to translate Herodotus and Thucydides into Latin. From hi...

Butkevičius, Algirdas

(Encyclopedia)Butkevičius, Algirdas, 1958–, Lithuanian politician. An economist by education, Butkevičius joined the Social Democratic Party of Lithuania (SDPL) in 1992, was deputy chairman of the party from 19...

O'Neill, Paul Henry

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Paul Henry, 1935–2020, American business executive and government official, b. St. Louis, Mo., grad. Fresno State College (B.A.) and Indiana Univ. (M.P.A.). A Republican, O'Neill began his ...

Bok, Derek Curtis

(Encyclopedia)Bok, Derek Curtis, 1930–, American educator and university president, b. Bryn Mawr, Pa., grad. Stanford (B.A., 1951) and Harvard (LL.B., 1954). A professor of law at Harvard from 1958, he served as ...

Donovan, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Donovan, William Joseph dŏnˈəvən [key], 1883–1959, U.S. lawyer and government official, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Columbia law school. Distinguished service in World War I won him medals and the n...

Chilkoot Pass

(Encyclopedia)Chilkoot Pass chĭlˈko͞ot [key], alt. c.3,500 ft (1,070 m), in the Coast Mts., on the British Columbia–Alaska line. The Chilkoot people long used it to pass between the Pacific coast and the Yukon...

Malaspina

(Encyclopedia)Malaspina măləspēˈnə [key], glacier, c.1,500 sq mi (3,890 sq km), SE Alaska, between Yakutat Bay and Icy Bay and flowing into the Gulf of Alaska. The glacier was named for Alejandro Malaspina, th...

Beaufort Sea

(Encyclopedia)Beaufort Sea bōˈfərt [key], part of the Arctic Ocean, N of Alaska and Canada, between Point Barrow, Alaska, and the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Mackenzie River flows into the sea, which is alw...

Cowen, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Cowen, Brian, 1960– Irish political leader, prime minister of the Repubic of Ireland (2008–11). A lawyer from a family long involved in Fianna Fáil politics, he was first elected to the Irish par...

Kodiak Island

(Encyclopedia)Kodiak Island kōˈdēăkˌ [key], 5,363 sq mi (13,890 sq km), c.100 mi (160 km) long and 10–60 mi (16–96 km) wide, off S Alaska, separated from the Alaska Peninsula by Shelikof Strait. Alaska's l...