Columbia Encyclopedia

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Battery, the

(Encyclopedia)Battery, the, park, 21 acres (8.5 hectares), southern tip of Manhattan island, New York City; site of former Dutch and English fortifications. Castle Clinton, a fort built in 1808 for the defense of N...

East Haven

(Encyclopedia)East Haven, town (2020 pop. 27,923, New Haven co., S Conn., on Long Island Sound, a residential suburb of New Haven, in a farm area; inc. 1785. Light in...

Gisborne

(Encyclopedia)Gisborne gĭzˈbôrn [key], city, East Coast North Island, New Zealand, on Poverty Bay. It is a ...

Jarvis, John Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Jarvis, John Wesley, 1781?–1839, American portrait painter, b. England. Beginning as an engraver in Philadelphia, he early moved to New York, where he became a popular portrait painter. In City Hall...

Kellogg, Clara Louise

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, Clara Louise, 1842–1916, American operatic soprano, b. Sumterville, S.C. She made her debut in 1861 in New York City and in 1863 sang Marguerite in the first New York performance of Gounod'...

Bakewell, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bakewell, Robert, 1725–95, English livestock breeder and agriculturist. He successfully bred livestock for meat rather than appearance, developing new breeds, which included the Leicester sheep and ...

bight

(Encyclopedia)bight, broad bend or curve in a coastline, forming a large open bay. The New York bight, for example, is the curve in the coast described by the southern shore of Long Island and the eastern shore of ...

Smith, John, English colonist in America

(Encyclopedia)Smith, John, c.1580–1631, English colonist in America, b. Willoughby, Lincolnshire, England. A merchant's apprentice until his father's death in 1596, he thereafter lived an adventurous life, travel...

Claiborne, Craig

(Encyclopedia)Claiborne, Craig, 1920–2000, American food journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author, b. Sunflower, Miss., studied École Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switz. After settling in New York and writ...

Franklin, William

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, William, c.1730–1813, last royal governor of New Jersey; illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. He grew up in Philadelphia, served in King George's War, and was (1754–56) comptroller of ...