Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tappan, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Tappan, Lewis, 1788–1873, American abolitionist, b. Northampton, Mass. He became a partner in his brother Arthur's New York mercantile house in 1828 and in 1841 founded the first agency for rating c...

Ultima Thule

(Encyclopedia)Ultima Thule, in astronomy and space exploration, nickname for Arrokoth. ...

exploration

(Encyclopedia)exploration, travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade. See also space explorati...

Colby, William Egan

(Encyclopedia)Colby, William Egan, 1920–96, American public official, b. St. Paul, Minn., grad. Princeton, 1940. During World War II he served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and in 1944 was dropped by ...

World Health Organization

(Encyclopedia)World Health Organization (WHO), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, with its headquarters at Geneva. WHO admits all sovereign states (including those not belonging to the U...

Mather, John Cromwell

(Encyclopedia)Mather, John Cromwell, 1946–, American astrophysicist, b. Roanoke, Va., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1974. He has been a researcher at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., s...

chancel

(Encyclopedia)chancel, primarily that part of the church close to the altar and used by the officiating clergy. In the early churches it was separated from the nave by a low parapet or open railing (cancellus), its...

Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr., 1923–98, American astronaut, b. East Derry, N.H., grad. Annapolis, 1944. He served on a destroyer during World War II and later had extensive experience as a test pilot....

League City

(Encyclopedia)League City, city (1990 pop. 30,159), Galveston co., SE Tex.; inc. 1961. The aeronautics industry is of prime importance; NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is nearby. There is also diversified lig...

Home Owners' Loan Corporation

(Encyclopedia)Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC), former U.S. government agency established in 1933 to help stabilize real estate that had depreciated during the depression and to refinance the urban mortgage deb...