Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

greenhouse

(Encyclopedia)greenhouse, enclosed glass house used for growing plants in regulated temperatures, humidity, and ventilation. A greenhouse can range from a small room carrying a few plants over the winter, to an imm...

Gregg, William

(Encyclopedia)Gregg, William, 1800–1867, American industrialist, known as the “father of Southern cotton manufacture,” b. Monongalia co., Va. (now W.Va.). He devoted his life to building up Southern industry....

Fleming, Walter Lynwood

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Walter Lynwood, 1874–1932, American historian, b. near Brundidge, Ala. He taught at West Virginia Univ. (1904–7) and at Louisiana State Univ. (1907–17) before becoming professor of hist...

Cranbrook Educational Community

(Encyclopedia)Cranbrook Educational Community, at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; est. and endowed by George G. and Ellen Scripps Booth in 1927. It includes the Cranbrook Academy of Art, with graduate programs in fine art...

cover crop

(Encyclopedia)cover crop, green temporary crop grown to prevent or reduce erosion and to improve the soil by building up its organic content. Green-manure crops, which are specifically grown for their organic conte...

Cheyenne, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Cheyenne, city (2020 pop. 65,132), alt. 6,062 ft (1,848 m), state capital and seat of Laramie co., SE Wyo., near the Colo. and Nebr. lines; inc. 1868. I...

Barros, João de

(Encyclopedia)Barros, João de zhwouN dĭ bäˈro͝osh [key], 1496–1570, Portuguese historian. Of noble family, he early entered the service of the prince who became King John III. The most important office he he...

Baird, Spencer Fullerton

(Encyclopedia)Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823–87, American zoologist, b. Reading, Pa., grad. Dickinson College, 1840. He was professor of natural history at Dickinson from 1846 to 1850. While at the Smithsonian In...

Port Arthur, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Port Arthur, city (1990 pop. 58,724), Jefferson co., SE Tex., on Sabine Lake; inc. 1898. A deepwater port of entry on the Sabine-Neches Canal, it is an extensive oil port, with many large refineries, ...

pier

(Encyclopedia)pier, in engineering, term applied to a mass of reinforced concrete or masonry supporting a large structure, such as a bridge. When piers are built on ground of poor bearing value, it is often necessa...