Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Gosford, Archibald Acheson, 2d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Gosford, Archibald Acheson, 2d earl of gŏzˈfərd [key], 1776–1849, governor in chief of British North America (1835–37). He served in the British House of Commons and, after succeeding (1807) to...

Appalachian Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Appalachian Mountains ăpəlāˈchən, –chēən, –lăchˈ– [key], mountain system of E North America, extending in a broad belt c.1,600 mi (2,570 km) SW from the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec prov....

exploration

(Encyclopedia)exploration, travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade. See also space explorati...

Lièvre

(Encyclopedia)Lièvre lēāˈvrə [key], river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rising in Kempt Lake, S Que., Canada, and flowing generally SW into the Ottawa River near Buckingham. Parts of it are navigable. There are fiv...

Evenki Autonomous Area

(Encyclopedia)Evenki Autonomous Area ĕvyĕnˈkē [key], former administrative division, 287,645 sq mi (745,000 sq km), N ...

Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus

(Encyclopedia)Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus hĕkˈəvĕldər [key], 1743–1823, Moravian missionary in the United States, b. Bedford, England. Settling (1754) in Bethlehem, Pa., with his parents, he later wa...

Prince of Wales, Cape

(Encyclopedia)Prince of Wales, Cape, at the tip of the Seward Peninsula, NW Alaska, on the Bering Strait; westernmost point of North America. Cape Dezhnev, Siberia, is only 55 mi (89 km) to the west. ...

peyotism

(Encyclopedia)peyotism, religion of some Native North Americans in which the hallucinogenic peyote button is used as the sacramental food. It is the most widespread indigenous contemporary Native American religion....

jumping mouse

(Encyclopedia)jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

Cathay

(Encyclopedia)Cathay kăthāˈ [key], name for North China used by medieval Europeans, derived from the Khitan (or Khitai), a Manchurian people who conquered S Manchuria and N China and founded the Liao dynasty (93...