Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

hickory, in botany

(Encyclopedia)hickory, any plant of the genus Carya of the family Juglandaceae (walnut family); deciduous nut-bearing trees native to E North America and south to Central America except for a few species found in S...

orchid

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rose pogonia, Pogonia ophioglossoides, a member of the orchid family orchid, popular name for members of the Orchidaceae, a family of perennial herbs widely distributed in both hemispheres. Th...

Aosta, Valle d'

(Encyclopedia)Aosta, Valle d' väldäôˈstä [key], region, 1,260 sq mi (3,263 sq km), NW Italy, bordering on France in the west and on Switzerland in the north. Aosta is the capital o...

transcontinental railroad

(Encyclopedia)transcontinental railroad, in U.S. history, rail connection with the Pacific coast. In 1845, Asa Whitney presented to Congress a plan for the federal government to subsidize the building of a railroad...

Cather, Willa Sibert

(Encyclopedia)Cather, Willa Sibert sīˈbərt kăᵺˈər [key], 1873–1947, American novelist and short-story writer, b. Winchester, Va., considered one of the great American writers of the 20th cent. When she wa...

Bancroft, George

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, George, 1800–1891, American historian and public official, b. Worcester, Mass. He taught briefly at Harvard and then at the Round Hill School in Northampton, Mass., of which he was a found...

Farmer, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Farmer, Paul (Paul Edward Farmer), 1959–2022; American infectious disease doctor and medical anthropologist, b. North Adams, Mass., M.D. and Ph.D. Har...

Oñate, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Oñate, Juan de hwän dā ōnyäˈtā [key], fl. 1595–1614, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest, possibly b. New Spain. In 1598 he led an expedition north from New Spain, took possession of N...

Salinas de Gortari, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Salinas de Gortari, Carlos, 1948–, president of Mexico (1988–94). A Harvard-educated political economist, he became minister of planning and the budget (1982–87) and succeeded Miguel de la Madri...

junco

(Encyclopedia)junco or snowbird, small seed-eating bird of North America closely related to the sparrows. Juncos have white underparts and gray (sometimes also brown) backs. They travel in flocks. The dark-eyed jun...