Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

narcotic

(Encyclopedia)narcotic, any of a number of substances that have a depressant effect on the nervous system. The chief narcotic drugs are opium, its constituents morphine and codeine, and the morphine derivative hero...

London Conference

(Encyclopedia)London Conference, several international conferences held at London, England, in the 19th and 20th cent. The following list includes only the most important of these meetings. At the London Conference...

Ea

(Encyclopedia)Ea ĕngˈkē [key], ancient water god of Sumerian origin, worshiped in Babylonian religion. The great benefactor of mankind, Ea was called the lord of wisdom, of magic, and of the arts and sciences. W...

Alpena

(Encyclopedia)Alpena ălpēˈnə [key], city, seat of Alpena co., N Mich., on Thunder Bay, an arm of Lake Huron; inc. 1871. Limestone quarried nearby is used to make cement, Alpena's ch...

Chesapeake, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake chĕsˈəpēkˌ [key], city (2020 pop. 249,422), formed independently by the merging of ...

Gibson, Paris

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, Paris, 1830–1920, American pioneer and politician, b. Brownfield, Maine. After serving in the Maine legislature he moved to Minneapolis, where he built the first flour mill and started woole...

Bowers, Eilley

(Encyclopedia)Bowers, Eilley, c.1827–1903, American frontier figure, b. Eilley Orrum in Scotland. She became a Mormon and moved (1855) to Nevada with her second husband. He returned (1857) to Salt Lake City, but ...

Bridget, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bridget, Saint, 453?–523?, Irish holy woman. She is often called St. Brigid, St. Bride, or St. Bridget of Kildare. Little is known of her, but she did found a great monastery at Kildare. She is buri...

Lusaka

(Encyclopedia)Lusaka lo͞osäˈkə [key], city (1990 est. pop. 982,400), alt. 4,200 ft (1,280 m), capital of Zambia, S central Zambia. A sprawling city located in a productive farm area, Lusaka is an administrative...

Hill, James Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hill, James Jerome, 1838–1916, American railroad builder, b. Ontario, Canada. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1856. He became a partner of Norman Kittson in a steamboat line and, with Kittson, Donald...