Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Topeka

(Encyclopedia)Topeka təpēˈkə [key], city (1990 pop. 119,883), state capital and seat of Shawnee co., NE Kans., on the Kansas River; inc. 1857. In a rich agricultural region, it is an important shipping point fo...

St.-John's-wort

(Encyclopedia)St.-John's-wort, any species of the large and widespread herbaceous or shrubby genus Hypericum of the family Hypericaceae (St.-John's-wort family), usually found in moist, open places and often having...

Saleh, Ali Abdullah

(Encyclopedia)Saleh, Ali Abdullah älēˈ äbdŭlˈä säˈlĕ [key], 1942–2017, Yemeni political leader, b. Bayt al-Ahmar. Saleh joined the army in 1958 and rose through the ranks, becoming a colonel in 1982. An...

Roebling, John Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Roebling, John Augustus rōˈblĭng [key], 1806–69, German-American engineer, b. Mulhouse. He studied engineering in Berlin and in 1831 came to the United States. He demonstrated the practicability ...

Regan, Donald Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Regan, Donald Thomas rēˈgən [key], 1918–2003, U.S. government official and financier, b. Cambridge, Mass. A graduate of Harvard (B.A. 1940), he went to work (1946) at a brokerage house that becam...

Seidman, L. William

(Encyclopedia)Seidman, L. William (Lewis William Seidman) sēdˈmən [key], 1921–2009, U.S. government official and accountant, b. Grand Rapids, Mich., grad. Dartmouth (A.B., 1943), Harvard (LL.B., 1948), Univ. o...

stamen

(Encyclopedia)stamen, one of the four basic parts of a flower. The stamen (microsporophyll), is often called the flower's male reproductive organ. It is typically located between the central pistil and the surround...

productivity

(Encyclopedia)productivity, in economics, the output of any aspect of production per unit of input. It is a measure of the output of a worker, machine, or an entire national economy in the creation of goods and ser...

DiMaggio, Joe

(Encyclopedia)DiMaggio, Joe (Joseph Paul DiMaggio) dĭmăjˈēōˌ, –mäjˈēōˌ [key], 1914–99, American baseball player, b. Martinez, Calif. One of the most charismatic of 20th-century sports figures, “Jol...

Alfonso X, Spanish king of Castile and León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise), 1221–84, Spanish king of Castile and León (1252–84); son and successor of Ferdinand III, whose conquests of the Moors he continued, notably by taking Cádiz (1262). ...