Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

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...

Rutherford

(Encyclopedia)Rutherford rŭthˈərfərd [key], borough (1990 pop. 17,790), Bergen co., NE N.J., a residential suburb of the New York City–N New Jersey metropolitan area; inc. 1881. Several pre-Revolutionary hous...

North Haven

(Encyclopedia)North Haven, town (1990 pop. 22,249), New Haven co., S Conn., on the Quinnipiac River; settled c.1650, set off from New Haven 1786. Chiefly residential, it has some manufactures, such as aircraft part...

Lewis, Morgan

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Morgan, 1754–1844, American army officer and governor of New York (1804–7), b. New York City; son of Francis Lewis. After serving in the American Revolution, he held a variety of state offi...

Murphy, Charles Francis

(Encyclopedia)Murphy, Charles Francis, 1858–1924, American political boss, b. New York City. He was the owner of many saloons in New York City and took a keen interest in Democratic politics. His services to Tamm...

Hall of Fame for Great Americans

(Encyclopedia)Hall of Fame for Great Americans, national shrine, on the campus of Bronx Community College of the City Univ. of New York, Bronx, New York City; est. 1900. The Hall of Fame, a 630-ft (192-m) colonnade...

Fort Schuyler

(Encyclopedia)Fort Schuyler skīˈlər [key]. 1 Name given during the American Revolution to the rebuilt Fort Stanwix, on the site of Rome, N.Y. 2 Fort built on the site of Utica, N.Y., in 1758. 3 Fort built (c.185...

Dickinson, Jonathan

(Encyclopedia)Dickinson, Jonathan, 1688–1747, American Presbyterian clergyman, a founder and first president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton Univ.), b. Hatfield, Mass., grad. Yale, 1706. He was a lead...

Paterson, David Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Paterson, David Alexander, 1954–, American politician, the first African-American governor of New York (2008–11), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1977), Hofstra Law School (J.D., 1982). T...

Carteret, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Carteret, Sir George kärˈtərĕt [key], c.1610–1680, proprietor of East Jersey (see New Jersey). He served in the British navy, fought for the royalists, and became (1643) lieutenant governor of h...