Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Parker, Quanah

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Quanah kwänˈə [key], c.1852–1911, Native American chief, b. Texas; son of a Comanche chief, Peta Nocone, and Cynthia Ann Parker, a survivor of a massacre. In 1867 he became chief of the C...

Ragnarok

(Encyclopedia)Ragnarok rägˈnərŏkˌ [key], in Norse mythology, the doom of the gods. According to prophecy the end of the world would follow a severe ice age, in which human civilization would be destroyed. Then...

Khmer Empire

(Encyclopedia)Khmer Empire kəmĕrˈ [key], ancient kingdom of SE Asia. In the 6th cent. the Cambodians, or Khmers, established an empire roughly corresponding to modern Cambodia and Laos. Divided during the 8th ce...

Isonzo

(Encyclopedia)Isonzo ēzônˈtsō [key], river, 87 mi (140 km) long, rising in the Julian Alps, NW Slovenia, and flowing S through Slovenia, where it is known as the Soča, then SW through NE Italy before emptying ...

Harrisonburg

(Encyclopedia)Harrisonburg, city (2020 pop. 51,814), seat of Rockingham co., NW Va., in the Shenandoah Valley; settled 1739, inc. 1916. It is a processing center in a...

North Platte project

(Encyclopedia)North Platte project, unit of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in the North Platte River valley, W Nebr. and E Wyo. It supplies hydroelectric power to many towns and industries and provides irrigation ...

Hoopa

(Encyclopedia)Hoopa ho͞oˈpə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Athabascan branch of the Nadene linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the 19th cent. they occupied the valle...

Thames , river, England

(Encyclopedia)Thames tĕmz [key], Rom. Tamesis, principal river of England, c.210 mi (340 km) long. It rises in four headstreams (the Thames or Isis, Churn, Coln, and Leach) in the Cotswold Hills, E Gloucestershire...

Shaanxi

(Encyclopedia)Shaanxi shĕnˈsēˈ [key] [west of the mountain passes], province (2010 pop. 37,327,378), c.76,000 sq mi (196,840 sq km), N central China. Xi'an is the capital. From north to south Shaanxi has four m...

Childe, Vere Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Childe, Vere Gordon, 1892–1957, British archaeologist, b. Australia. An Oxford graduate, he taught at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1927–46) and the Univ. of London (1946–56). He gained renown for his...