Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

stagecoach

(Encyclopedia)stagecoach, heavy, closed vehicle on wheels, usually drawn by horses, formerly used to transport passengers and goods overland. Throughout the Middle Ages and until about the end of the 18th cent., th...

Huron, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Huron, Lake hyo͝orˈänˌ [key], 23,010 sq mi (59,596 sq km), 206 mi (332 km) long and 183 mi (295 km) at its greatest width, between Ont., Canada, and Mich.; second largest of the Great Lakes. It ha...

Kossuth, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Kossuth, Louis kŏso͞othˈ [key], Hung. Kossuth Lajos, 1802–94, Hungarian revolutionary hero. Born of a Protestant family and a lawyer by training, he entered politics as a member of the diet and s...

Bragg, Braxton

(Encyclopedia)Bragg, Braxton, 1817–76, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Warrenton, N.C. A graduate of West Point, he fought the Seminole and in the Mexican War was promoted to lieutenant colonel for ...

SARS

(Encyclopedia)SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome, communicable viral disease that can progress to a potentially fatal pneumonia. The first symptoms of SARS are usually a high fever, headache and body aches, ...

Doane, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Doane, George Washington, 1799–1859, Episcopal bishop of New Jersey (1832–59), b. Trenton, N.J. He acted as rector of St. Mary's Church, Burlington, N.J., and there he established a school for gir...

crèche

(Encyclopedia)crèche krĕsh, krāsh [key], representation of the Infant Jesus in the manger, usually surrounded by figures of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, animals, and the Wise Men; also called Christmas Crib. The cr...

Christopher, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Christopher, Saint krĭsˈtəfər [key] [Gr.,=Christ bearer], 3d cent.?, martyr of Asia Minor. His characteristic legend is that one day when he was carrying a little child over a river, he felt the c...

Ironton

(Encyclopedia)Ironton, industrial city (2020 pop. 10,400), seat of Lawrence co., S Ohio, on the Ohio River; inc. as a city 1865. Chemicals, dyes, metal pipes, plastic...

Antara

(Encyclopedia)Antara äntärˈä [key], fl. 600, Arab warrior and poet, celebrated in his own day as a hero because he rose from slave birth to be a tribal chief. His poetry is represented by one poem in the Mualla...

Browse by Subject