Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

depth charge

(Encyclopedia)depth charge, explosive device used against submarines and other underwater targets, either rolled into the water from rails on the stern of a ship or propelled from depth charge throwers. The charge ...

Hundred Days

(Encyclopedia)Hundred Days, name given to the period after the return of the deposed French emperor, Napoleon I, from Elba. The Hundred Days are counted from Mar. 20, 1815, when Napoleon arrived in Paris, to June 2...

Honiara

(Encyclopedia)Honiara hōˌnēärˈə [key], town, capital of the Solomon Islands. Located on Guadalcanal in the SW Pacific, Honiar...

Gallipoli Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Gallipoli Peninsula, Lat. Chersonesus Thracica, narrow peninsula, c.50 mi (80 km) long, W Turkey, extending southwestward between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles. The port of Gallipoli gives it its...

Astor, John Jacob, 1822–90, American financier

(Encyclopedia)Astor, John Jacob, 1822–90, American financier, b. New York City, educated at Columbia and Göttingen universities and at Harvard law school; son of William Backhouse Astor (1792–1875). He served ...

Van Schaick, Goose

(Encyclopedia)Van Schaick, Goose gōˈsə văn skīk [key], 1736–89, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Albany, N.Y. He fought in the French and Indian War, becoming (1760) lieutenant colonel of a New York regime...

Tibullus

(Encyclopedia)Tibullus (Albius Tibullus) tĭbŭlˈəs [key], c.55? b.c.–19 b.c., Roman elegiac poet, b. Pedum, near Praeneste. Probably of the equestrian order, he was a friend of Messala, whom he accompanied on ...

Qostanay

(Encyclopedia)Qostanay, Kostanay, or Kustanay all: ko͝osˌtənīˈ [key], city (1993 est. pop. 228,000), N Kazakhstan, on the Tobol River. It is an agricultural center and producer of chemical fibers. Rich iron d...

Biddle, Clement

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Clement, 1740–1814, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Philadelphia. Early in the war, he helped organize the “Quaker Blues,” a company of volunteers. He later served as deputy quarterma...

Fillon, François Charles Amand

(Encyclopedia)Fillon, François Charles Amand fräNswäˈ shärl ämäNˈ fēyôNˈ [key], 1954–, French political leader, b. Le Mans. A conservative, he served as an assembly deputy (1981–2002, 2007–17) and ...