Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

London, Declaration of

(Encyclopedia)London, Declaration of, international code of maritime law, especially as related to war, proposed in 1909. The declaration grew largely out of the attempt at the second of the Hague Conferences to se...

Varna

(Encyclopedia)Varna värˈnä [key], city (1993 pop. 307,200), E Bulgaria, on the Black Sea. It is a major port and an industrial center. Manufactures include ships and boats, chemicals, electrical equipment, and t...

Rochefort

(Encyclopedia)Rochefort –sür-mĕr [key], city (1990 pop. 26,949), Charente-Maritime dept., W France, on the Charente River near the Bay of Biscay. It is a fishing port with shipyards and aircraft and machine ind...

Truxtun, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Truxtun, Thomas, 1755–1822, American naval officer, b. near Hempstead, L.I., N.Y. In the American Revolution he won a name as a privateer, seizing many British prizes. Later he was a sea captain in ...

Cameron, Verney Lovett

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, Verney Lovett kămˈərən [key], 1844–94, English traveler in Africa. A naval officer, he served (1868) in the British expedition against Ethiopia and assisted in the suppression of the Ea...

Nordhoff, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Nordhoff, Charles nôrdˈhŏf [key], 1830–1901, American journalist and author, b. Westphalia. In 1835 he emigrated with his family to Cincinnati. His service (1844–47) in the navy, and later on w...

Mangas Coloradas

(Encyclopedia)Mangas Coloradas mängˈgäs kōlōräˈᵺäs [key] [Span.,=red sleeves], c.1797–1863, chief of the Mimbrenos group of Apache of SW New Mexico. Many of the Mimbrenos were massacred by trappers in 1...

yawl

(Encyclopedia)yawl, sailing vessel, usually fore-and-aft rigged, with a large mainmast forward. It carries a mainsail and jibs and a much smaller mizzenmast abaft the rudder post. In the United States yawls are in ...

galley

(Encyclopedia)galley, long, narrow vessel widely used in ancient and medieval times, propelled principally by oars but also fitted with sails. The earliest type was sometimes 150 ft (46 m) long with 50 oars. Rowers...

Jones, Thomas ap Catesby

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Thomas ap Catesby, 1789–1858, American naval officer, b. Westmoreland co., Va. He joined the navy in 1805 and helped suppress piracy and the slave trade in the Gulf of Mexico (1808–12). In ...

Browse by Subject