Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

260 results found

coccidioidomycosis

(Encyclopedia)coccidioidomycosis kŏksĭdˌēoiˌdōmīkōˈsĭs [key], systemic fungus disease (see fungal infection) endemic to arid regions of the Americas, contracted by inhaling dust containing spores of the f...

molly

(Encyclopedia)molly or mollie, New World fish of the genus Poecilia, which includes the guppy or rainbow fish, Poecilia reticulata. Mollies, which are related to the killifishes, are found from the E and central Un...

Mendoza, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Mendoza, Pedro de dā māndōˈthä [key], b. 1501 or 1502, d. 1537, Spanish conquistador, first adelantado [civil and military governor] of Río de la Plata (present-day Argentina). After a military...

Onassis, Aristotle Socrates

(Encyclopedia)Onassis, Aristotle Socrates ârˌĭstŏtˈəl sŏkˈrətēz ōnăsˈĭs [key], 1906?–75, Greek shipowner and financier, b. Turkey. Leaving Turkey after the Turkish defeat of Greek forces at Smyrna (...

Paradise Papers

(Encyclopedia)Paradise Papers, popular name for some 13.4 million confidential electronic files relating to investments with offshore companies, most of them with the law firm and corporate services provider Appleb...

Ascension, island

(Encyclopedia)Ascension əsĕnˈchən [key], island, 34 sq mi (88 sq km), in the S Atlantic, NW of Saint Helena and belonging to the British St. Helena overseas territory. Georgetown i...

Lavalleja, Juan Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Lavalleja, Juan Antonio hwän äntōˈnyō läväyāˈhä [key], c.1786–1853, Uruguayan revolutionist. After serving under José Gervasio Artigas, Lavalleja was imprisoned for a short time by Brazil...

limpkin

(Encyclopedia)limpkin or courlan ko͝orˈlən [key], common terms for a long-legged, nonmigratory marsh bird, considered the connecting evolutionary link between the crane and the rail. They have a cranelike skelet...

Tompkins, Douglas Rainsford

(Encyclopedia)Tompkins, Douglas Rainsford, 1943–2015, American business executive, conservationist, and philanthropist, b. Conneaut, Ohio. In 1964, he and his first wife, Susie Tompkins Buell, founded The North F...

Roca, Julio Argentino

(Encyclopedia)Roca, Julio Argentino ho͞oˈlyō ärhāntēˈnō rōˈkä [key], 1843–1914, general who became president of Argentina (1880–86, 1898–1904). Minister of war under Nicolas Avellaneda, he crushed ...

Browse by Subject