Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ten Years War

(Encyclopedia)Ten Years War, 1868–78, struggle for Cuban independence from Spain. Discontent was caused in Cuba by excessive taxation, trade restrictions, and virtual exclusion of native Cubans from governmental ...

Florida, Straits of

(Encyclopedia)Florida, Straits of, passage, c.90 mi (145 km) wide, between the Florida Keys in the north and Cuba in the south. It connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Windward Passage

(Encyclopedia)Windward Passage, strait, c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between Cuba and Haiti, connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It provides a direct route from the E United States to the Panama Canal. ...

Bliss, Tasker Howard

(Encyclopedia)Bliss, Tasker Howard, 1853–1930, American army officer and statesman, b. Lewisburg, Pa., grad. West Point, 1875. He was (1898) chief of staff to Gen. James H. Wilson in the Puerto Rico campaign of t...

Sancti Spíritus

(Encyclopedia)Sancti Spíritus sängkˈtē-spēˈrēto͞os [key], city (1994 est. pop. 86,000), Sancti Spíritus prov., central Cuba, on the Yayabo River. It is the commercial and processing center of an area that ...

National Museum of African American History and Culture

(Encyclopedia)National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution. Devoted to the collection, presentation, and preservation of the culture of Africa...

Old Man of the Mountain, in Islamic history

(Encyclopedia)Old Man of the Mountain, in Islamic history: see Assassin. ...

Fish, Hamilton, 1808–93, American statesman

(Encyclopedia)Fish, Hamilton, 1808–93, American statesman, b. New York City, grad. Columbia, 1827; son of Nicholas Fish (1758–1833). He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1830. Named for his father's fr...

Youth, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Youth, Isle of, Span. Isla de la Juventud, island and special municipality (1989 est. pop. 71,500), 1,180 sq mi (3,056 sq km), off SW Cuba, from which it is separated by the Batabanó Gulf. Until 1978...

Cruz, Celia

(Encyclopedia)Cruz, Celia, 1929–2003, Cuban-American singer, b. Havana. The “Queen of Salsa” began singing as a teenager, and in 1950 joined Sonora Matancera, Cuba's most popular band. She left Cuba a year af...