Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gwyn, Nell

(Encyclopedia)Gwyn or Gwynn, Nell (Eleanor Gwyn), 1650–87, English actress. Once an orange-seller at the Theatre Royal, she became a member of Killigrew's company, making her debut there in 1665. Her charm and vi...

Namib-Naukluft National Park

(Encyclopedia)Namib-Naukluft National Park, 19,216 sq mi (49,768 sq km), W Namibia, encompassing parts of the Namib Desert and the Naukluft mountain range. It was established in 1979 when the Namib Desert Park (beg...

Olcott, Henry Steel

(Encyclopedia)Olcott, Henry Steel, 1832–1907, American religious leader and author, cofounder of Theosophist movement, b. Orange, N.J. After working as an agricultural scientist and a lawyer, he and Helena Blavat...

Castellón de la Plana

(Encyclopedia)Castellón de la Plana kästĕlyōnˈ dā lä pläˈnä [key], city, capital of Caste...

Yorba Linda

(Encyclopedia)Yorba Linda yôrˈbə lĭnˈdə [key], city (1990 pop. 52,422), Orange co., S Calif., in a region of citrus fruit; inc. 1967. The city grew tremendously in the late 20th cent. along with the southern ...

Stetson, John Batterson

(Encyclopedia)Stetson, John Batterson, 1830–1906, American hat manufacturer, b. Orange, N.J. Stetson, who had learned hatmaking, traveled to the West in the 1860s to improve his health. He returned to Philadelphi...

globeflower

(Encyclopedia)globeflower, common name for any plant of the genus Trollius of the family Ranunculaceae (buttercup family), hardy perennials of north temperate meadows and swamps. Their blossoms are larger than thos...

Netscher, Caspar

(Encyclopedia)Netscher, Caspar käsˈpär nĕchˈər [key], 1639–84, Dutch portrait and genre painter, b. Heidelberg. He moved to Holland, where he studied with Ter Borch. Netscher was especially adept in the ren...

Lakeland

(Encyclopedia)Lakeland, resort city (1990 pop. 70,576), Polk co., central Fla., in the highland region; inc. 1885. It is an important processing and shipping center for a citrus-fruit and phosphate-mining region an...

Blackwell, Alice Stone

(Encyclopedia)Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857–1950, American feminist, b. East Orange, N.J., grad. Boston Univ., 1881; daughter of Henry Brown Blackwell and Lucy Stone. She was an editor (1881–1917) of the Woman's...

Browse by Subject