Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

White, John, artist, cartographer, Virginia pioneer

(Encyclopedia)White, John, fl. 1585–93, artist, cartographer, and Virginia pioneer, b. probably in England. In 1585 he was commissioned to go with the expedition to Roanoke Island to depict life in the New World....

sea whip

(Encyclopedia)sea whip, erect colony of marine animals of the phylum Cnidaria, with whiplike branches. The skeleton consists of a horny axis, overlaid with small calcareous bodies called spicules. Often beautifully...

Puteoli

(Encyclopedia)Puteoli pyo͞otēˈəlī [key], ancient city of Campania, S Italy, 8 mi (13 km) W of Naples. Founded c.520 b.c. by Samian Greeks from Cumae, it came under Roman control by the end of the 4th cent. b.c...

Free State

(Encyclopedia)Free State, formerly Orange Free State, province, 50,126 sq mi (129,825 sq km), E central South Africa. It was renamed Free State shortly after the 1994...

Tasmania

(Encyclopedia)Tasmania tăzmāˈnēə [key], island state (2016 pop. 509,965), 26,383 sq mi (68,332 sq km), SE Commonwealth of Australia. It is separated from Australia by the Bass Strait and lies 150 mi (240 km) s...

Croatoan

(Encyclopedia)Croatoan, unexplained letters found (1590) carved on a tree on Roanoke Island off North Carolina by Gov. John White when he returned to the colony from England and discovered the colonists gone. White...

Corumbá

(Encyclopedia)Corumbá ko͝oro͞ombäˈ [key], city, Mato Grosso do Sul state, SW Brazil, on the Paraguay River. A ...

Hsinchu

(Encyclopedia)Hsinchu or Hsin-chu both: shĭnˈjo͞oˈ [key], city, NW Taiwan. The city and surrounding area are noted for the ...

Hamilton, Andrew, colonial governor of New Jersey

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Andrew, d. 1703, colonial governor of New Jersey, b. Scotland. Becoming deputy governor of East Jersey in 1687, Hamilton defended the proprietors against popular opposition and shortly had t...

Gallitzin, Demetrius Augustine

(Encyclopedia)Gallitzin, Demetrius Augustine, 1770–1840, American frontier missionary; son of Dmitri Alekseyevich Gallitzin. The young prince followed his mother in joining the Roman Catholic Church and determine...