Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

446 results found

Enciso, Martín Fernández de

(Encyclopedia)Enciso, Martín Fernández de märtēnˈ fĕrnänˈdāth dā ĕnthēˈsō [key], fl. 1509–19, Spanish conquistador and geographer. Commanding the supply ship for the colony planted (1509) near Carta...

Hull, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Hull, Isaac, 1773–1843, American naval officer, b. Derby, Conn. He served in the undeclared naval war with France (1798–1800) and in the Tripolitan War before being promoted to captain in 1806. In...

Greenpeace

(Encyclopedia)Greenpeace, international organization that promotes environmental awareness and addresses environmental abuse through direct, nonviolent confrontations with governments and companies. Founded in 1971...

Friedrichshafen

(Encyclopedia)Friedrichshafen frēˈdrĭkhs-häˌfən [key], city, Baden-Württemberg, S Germany, a port on Lake ...

Jahnn, Hans Henny

(Encyclopedia)Jahnn, Hans Henny häns hĕnˈē yän [key], 1894–1959, German novelist, dramatist, music publisher, and organ builder. Jahnn's early dramas, including Pastor Ephraim Magnus (1919) and Medea (1926),...

Nicholson, James

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, James, c.1736–1804, American naval officer, b. Chestertown, Md.; brother of Samuel Nicholson. During the American Revolution, Nicholson, appointed (1776) a captain in the Continental navy...

Warrington, borough, England

(Encyclopedia)Warrington, borough and unitary authority (2011 pop. 202,228), NW England, on the Mersey River and on the Manchester Ship Canal. Manufactures include wire and other metal products, chemicals, soap, le...

Selkirk, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Alexander sĕlˈkərk [key], 1676–1721, Scottish sailor whose adventures suggested to Daniel Defoe the story of Robinson Crusoe (1719). In 1704, as a sailing master, Selkirk quarreled with ...

MacMillan, Donald Baxter

(Encyclopedia)MacMillan, Donald Baxter, 1874–1970, American arctic explorer, b. Provincetown, Mass., grad. Bowdoin College, 1898, and studied at Harvard. After a decade of teaching, he went on the expedition (190...

warship

(Encyclopedia)warship, any ship built or armed for naval combat. The forerunners of the modern warship were the men-of-war of the 18th and early 19th cent., such as the ship of the line, frigate, corvette, sloop of...

Browse by Subject