Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Corsica

(Encyclopedia)Corsica kôrˈsĭkə [key], Fr. Corse, island, 3,352 sq mi (8,682 sq km), a region of metropo...

Flanagan, John

(Encyclopedia)Flanagan, John flănˈəgən [key], 1865–1952, American sculptor and medalist. In 1932 he designed the George Washington silver quarter. In addition to medals and plaquettes, he produced larger work...

De Long, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)De Long, George Washington də lôngˈ [key], 1844–81, American arctic explorer, b. New York City, grad. Annapolis, 1865. In 1873 he was assigned to the Juniata, which was sent to the arctic to sear...

Agassiz, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Agassiz, Lake ăgˈəsē [key], glacial lake of the Pleistocene epoch, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, 250 mi (400 km) wide, formed by the melting of the continental ice sheet beginning some 14,000 years ag...

Hendrick

(Encyclopedia)Hendrick, c.1680–1755, chief of the Mohawks. He was known also as Tiyanoga. He became a Christian and was an ally of the British. He represented his people at the Albany Congress (1754). The next ye...

Green River

(Encyclopedia)Green River. 1 River, 370 mi (595 km) long, rising in central Ky. and flowing generally NW, through Mammoth Cave National Park, to the Ohio River near Evansville, Ind. Locks and dams make the Green Ri...

Ecuador

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ecuador ĕkˈwədôr [key] [Span., = equator], officially Republic of Ecuador, rep...

greenback

(Encyclopedia)greenback, in U.S. history, legal tender notes unsecured by specie (coin). In 1862, under the exigencies of the Civil War, the U.S. government first issued legal tender notes (popularly called greenba...

LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry

(Encyclopedia)LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry fēərĕlˈō, ləgwärˈdēə [key], 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Ar...

tax exemption

(Encyclopedia)tax exemption, immunity from the requirement of paying taxes. Federal, state, and usually local law provide exemption from taxation for a wide variety of organizations, usually not-for-profit, such as...