Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

193 results found

Modoc War

(Encyclopedia)Modoc War, 1872–73, series of battles between the Modoc and the U.S. army fought as a result of the attempt to force a group of the Modoc to return to the Klamath Reservation in S Oregon. Beginning ...

Dewey, Melvil

(Encyclopedia)Dewey, Melvil, 1851–1931, American library pioneer, originator of the Dewey decimal system, b. Adams Center, N.Y., grad. Amherst (B.A., 1874; M.A., 1877). A man of originality and of enormous energy...

Palmer, Arnold Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Palmer, Arnold Daniel, 1929–2016, American golfer, b. Latrobe, Pa. The son of a professional golfer, he won three regional titles in his youth. Turning professional after winning the 1954 U.S. amate...

Jeffries, James J.

(Encyclopedia)Jeffries, James J., 1875–1953, American boxer, b. Carroll, Fairfield co., Ohio. He began boxing in 1896, and in 1899 he won the heavyweight championship from Robert Fitzsimmons at Coney Island in Ne...

arum

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Jack-in-the-pulpit, Arisaema triphyllum, a member of the arum family arum, common name for the Araceae, a plant family mainly composed of species of herbaceous terrestrial and epiphytic plants...

bowls

(Encyclopedia)bowls, ancient sport (the bocce of Caesar's Rome is still played by Italians), especially popular in Great Britain and Australia, known as lawn bowls or bowling on the green in the United States. It w...

pompano

(Encyclopedia)pompano pŏmˈpənō [key], common name for fishes of the genus Trachinotus, members of a large and important family (Carangidae) of mackerellike fishes, abundant in warm seas around the world. They h...

will-o'-the-wisp

(Encyclopedia)will-o'-the-wisp, phenomenon known also as ignis fatuus and jack-o'-lantern. It is seen at night as a pale, flickering light over marshland. There is no generally accepted explanation for it; it may r...

vocative

(Encyclopedia)vocative vŏkˈətĭv [key] [Lat.,=calling], in the grammar of certain languages (e.g., Latin), the case referring to a person addressed. In English a special intonation expresses the vocative, as in ...

Watson, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Watson, Tom (Thomas Sturges Watson), 1949–, American golfer, b. Kansas City, Mo. Considered the successor to Jack Nicklaus as the game's foremost player in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Watson won...