Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe

(Encyclopedia)Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe Fr. äNtwänˈ də lä môt kädēyäkˈ [key], c.1658–1730, French colonial governor in North America, founder of Detroit. Of the minor Gascon nobility, he came to Ame...

Bering Strait

(Encyclopedia)Bering Strait, c.55 mi (90 km) wide, between extreme NE Asia and extreme NW North America, connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is usually completely frozen over from October to June. Th...

Canadian Shield

(Encyclopedia)Canadian Shield or Laurentian Plateau lôrĕnˈchən [key], U-shaped region of ancient rock, the nucleus of North America, stretching N from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean. Covering more than hal...

log cabin

(Encyclopedia)log cabin or log house, style of home typical of the American pioneer on the Western frontier of the United States in the great westward expansion after 1765. It was constructed with few tools, usuall...

honeysuckle

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens honeysuckle, common name for some members of the Caprifoliaceae, a family comprised mostly of vines and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere, especially...

coyote

(Encyclopedia)coyote kīˈōt, kīōˈtē [key] or prairie wolf, small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. Historically found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country, it is increa...

Mennonites

(Encyclopedia)Mennonites mĕnˈnənīts [key], descendants of the Dutch and Swiss evangelical Anabaptists of the 16th cent. The name Mennonite is derived from Menno Simons (c.1496–1561), Dutch reformer and org...

Jesuit Relations

(Encyclopedia)Jesuit Relations, annual reports and narratives written by French Jesuit missionaries at their stations in New France (America) between 1632 and 1673. They are invaluable as historical sources for Fre...

Lescaze, William

(Encyclopedia)Lescaze, William lĕskäzˈ [key], 1896–1969, American architect, born and trained in Switzerland. Emigrating to the United States in 1920, Lescaze became influential in introducing the new European...

Hamlin, Talbot Faulkner

(Encyclopedia)Hamlin, Talbot Faulkner, 1889–1956, American historian of architecture, b. New York City. He was librarian of the Avery Library, Columbia (1934–45), and professor of architecture there. Hamlin wro...

Browse by Subject