Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ouargla

(Encyclopedia)Ouargla wärˈglä [key], town and oasis, E Algeria. It is the administrative center of a well-watered oasis at the junction of several Saharan desert caravan routes. Ouargla lies in the heart of a pa...

alizarin

(Encyclopedia)alizarin əlĭzˈərĭn [key], or 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone, mordant vegetable dye obtained originally from the root of the madder plant (Rubia tinctorum), in which it occurs as a glucoside. The term...

Goldmark, Rubin

(Encyclopedia)Goldmark, Rubin: see under Goldmark, Karl. ...

Hare, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Hare, Sir John, 1844–1921, English actor-manager, whose original name was John Fairs. From 1856 to 1874 he was a prominent actor with the Bancrofts' company in the plays of Tom Robertson. He managed...

George Washington Bridge

(Encyclopedia)George Washington Bridge, vehicular suspension bridge across the Hudson River, between Manhattan borough of New York City and Fort Lee, N.J.; constructed 1927–31. It is one of the longest suspension...

Jouett, Matthew Harris

(Encyclopedia)Jouett, Matthew Harris jōˈət [key], 1787–1827, American painter, b. Mercer co., Ky., studied in Boston with Gilbert Stuart. He was the first prominent painter in the West. Among his more than 300...

Lawes, Sir John Bennet

(Encyclopedia)Lawes, Sir John Bennet, 1814–1900, English agriculturist. He founded the famous experimental farm at Rothamsted, where, with the English chemist Sir J. H. Gilbert, he experimented with plants and an...

Smith, Holland McTyeire

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Holland McTyeire, 1882–1967, American general, b. Seale, Ala. He was commissioned in the marines in 1905 and served in France in World War I. In World War II, Smith pioneered in developing am...

Saint Croix, island, Virgin Islands

(Encyclopedia)Saint Croix sānt kroi [key], island (2010 pop. 50,601), 80 sq mi (207 sq km), the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, in the West Indies. Christiansted, on the northeast coast, is the island's leadin...

Browse by Subject