Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Townes, Charles Hard

(Encyclopedia)Townes, Charles Hard, 1915–2015, American physicist and educator, b. Greenville, S.C. He was educated at Furman Univ., Duke, and the California Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1939), was on the tech...

Chinese exclusion

(Encyclopedia)Chinese exclusion, policy of prohibiting immigration of Chinese laborers to the United States; initiated in 1882. From the time of the U.S. acquisition of California (1848) there had been a large infl...

soap plant

(Encyclopedia)soap plant, any of various plants having cleansing properties. A few are of commercial importance, but most soap plants are used locally, as in early times, for toilet and laundry purposes. The soapba...

Colorado, rivers, United States and Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Colorado [1] kŏlərădˈə, –rădˈō, –räˈdō [2] kŏlərāˈdə, –räˈdə [key]. 1 Great river of the SW United States, 1,450 mi (2,334 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts. of N Colo., and f...

Crabtree, Lotta

(Encyclopedia)Crabtree, Lotta, 1847–1924, American actress, b. New York City. A protégée of Lola Montez, she became, while still a child, a favorite in California mining camps with her sprightly singing, dancin...

Costa Mesa

(Encyclopedia)Costa Mesa kŏsˈtə māˈsə [key], city (2020 pop. 111,918), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific ...

Chico

(Encyclopedia)Chico chēˈkō [key], city (2020 pop. 101,475), Butte co., N Calif., in a region noted for i...

Channel Islands National Park

(Encyclopedia)Channel Islands National Park: see Channel Islands, California; National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

escarpment

(Encyclopedia)escarpment or scarp, long cliff, bluff, or steep slope, caused usually by geologic faulting (see fault) or by erosion of tilted rock layers. An example of a fault scarp is the north face of the San Ja...

Irvine, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Irvine ûrˈvīn [key], city (2020 pop. 307,670), Orange co., SW Calif.; inc. 1971. Its indus...