Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

326 results found

McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold

(Encyclopedia)McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold, 1819–1907, British arctic explorer. As a lieutenant in the navy he was assigned to his first arctic service in 1848, when Sir James Clark Ross went in search of the ...

MacKay, Peter Gordon

(Encyclopedia)MacKay, Peter Gordon məkāˈ [key], 1966–, Canadian politician, b. New Glasgow, N.S. A lawyer who briefly worked (1992–93) in Germany, MacKay returned to his native Nova Scotia in 1993 and became...

Ponca

(Encyclopedia)Ponca, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). According to tradition the group lived in the Ohio valle...

Ross Sea

(Encyclopedia)Ross Sea, arm of the Pacific Ocean, Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land. It was discovered in 1841 by Sir James Clark Ross, a British explorer. Ross Island with Mt. Erebus, an active...

Johnston, Joseph Eggleston

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Joseph Eggleston, 1807–91, Confederate general, b. Prince Edward co., Va., grad. West Point, 1829. He served against the Seminole in Florida and with distinction under Winfield Scott in th...

Boswell, James

(Encyclopedia)Boswell, James, 1740–95, Scottish author, b. Edinburgh; son of a distinguished judge. At his father's insistence the young Boswell reluctantly studied law. Admitted to the bar in 1766, he practiced ...

Brubeck, Dave

(Encyclopedia)Brubeck, Dave (David Warren Brubeck) bro͞oˈbĕk [key], 1920–2012, American pianist an...

business cycles

(Encyclopedia)business cycles, fluctuations in economic activity characterized by periods of rising and falling fiscal health. During a business cycle, an economy grows, reaches a peak, and then begins a downturn f...

Tauler, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Tauler, Johannes yōhänˈəs touˈlər [key], c.1300–1361, German mystic. He was a Dominican. He met Meister Eckhart, either at Strasbourg or in Cologne, where he went to study, and he was one of E...

purslane

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Purslane, Portulaca oleraceae purslane, common name for some plants of the Portulaceae, a family of herbs and a few small shrubs, chiefly of the Americas. The portulacas or purslanes (genus Po...