Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Maclay, William

(Encyclopedia)Maclay, William məklāˈ [key], 1734–1804, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1789–91), b. Chester co., Pa. A lawyer and a provincial and state official before serving as Senator, he kept a journal,...

mare's-tail

(Encyclopedia)mare's-tail, any plant of the genus Hippuris, perennial, submerged aquatic herbs of temperate and frigid regions. Mare's-tails have an erect stem bearing whorls of small leaves, so they resemble some ...

Migingo Islands

(Encyclopedia)Migingo Islands, small, rocky islands in Lake Victoria, E Africa, off Kenya north of the Tanzanian border. The group consists of Migingo, Ugingo, and Pyramid Island. According to a boundary set by the...

Minton

(Encyclopedia)Minton, English family of potters. The first important member of the family was Thomas Minton, 1765–1836, who founded a small pottery at Stoke-on-Trent. He first engraved the famous willow-pattern w...

Lomé

(Encyclopedia)Lomé lômāˈ [key], city (2010 pop. 837,437), capital of Togo, on the Gulf of Guinea. It is the country's administrative, communications, and industrial center, and the chief port, handling such ite...

Argonne

(Encyclopedia)Argonne ärgônˈ [key], region of the Paris basin, NE France, in Champagne and Lorraine (Meuse, Marne, and Ardennes dept.), a hilly and woody district centering around the capital, Sainte-Menehould. ...

Kikai Caldera

(Encyclopedia)Kikai Caldera, massive caldera, c.12 mi (19 km) in diameter, Ryukyu Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located c.30 mi (48 km) from the southern tip of the densely populated major island of Kyushu,...

Killeen

(Encyclopedia)Killeen kĭlēnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 63,535), Bell co., central Tex., in a ranching and cotton region; inc. 1893. The city has varied manufacturing, but adjacent Fort Hood is the major source of e...

Whyte, William Hollingsworth

(Encyclopedia)Whyte, William Hollingsworth, 1917–99, b. West Chester, Pa. He graduated from Princeton (1939), then served in the Marine Corps (1941–45). Writing for Fortune magazine (1946–58), he developed a ...

Wenzhou

(Encyclopedia)Wenzhou or Wenchow both: wŭn-jō [key], city (1994 est. pop. 449,700), SE Zhejiang prov., SE China. It is a small deep-sea port on the Ou River 12 mi (19 km) from the East China Sea and a major trade...