Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

129 results found

Rayburn, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Rayburn, Sam (Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn), 1882–1961, U.S. legislator, b. Roane co., Tenn. After his family moved (1887) to Fannin co., Tex., he worked at cotton picking. He worked his way through sc...

Uncle Sam

(Encyclopedia)Uncle Sam, name used to designate the U.S. government. The origins of the term are unclear. The term was believed to have arisen in the War of 1812, when it seems to have been used at first derisively...

Shepard, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Shepard, Sam, 1943–2017, one of the major American playwrights and actors of his era, b. Fort Sheridan, Ill., as Samuel Shepard Rogers 3d. A product of the 1960s counterculture and an important figu...

Bentonville

(Encyclopedia)Bentonville, city (2020 pop. 54,164), seat of Benton co., extreme NW Ark., in the Ozark Mts.; settled 1837 and named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Loc...

Fort Walton Beach

(Encyclopedia)Fort Walton Beach, city (2020 pop. 20,922), Okaloosa co., NW Fla., on the Gulf of Mexico; inc. 1941. It is a year-round beach and fishing resort east of...

Walton and Weybridge

(Encyclopedia)Walton and Weybridge wāˈbrĭj [key], city (19981 pop. 50,031), Surrey, SE England. It is largely a residential suburb of London. There is market gardening, an aircraft works, and other industries. ...

Walton-le-Dale

(Encyclopedia)Walton-le-Dale, city (1985 est. pop. 29,100), Lancashire, N England. There are engineering works and textile and paper industries. An 11th-century church was rebuilt in 1748. Oliver Cromwell's headqua...

Tantlinger, Keith Walton

(Encyclopedia)Tantlinger, Keith Walton, 1919–2011, b. Orange, Calif. Trained as a mechanical engineer, he was the inventor of the modern shipping container. After stints at Douglas Aircraft Co. (later McDonnell D...

Fort Sam Houston

(Encyclopedia)Fort Sam Houston, U.S. army facility, S Tex., in San Antonio; headquarters of the U.S. Army North and the U.S. Army South. In 2010 it was amalgamated with Lackland and Randolph air force bases to crea...

Kim Young Sam

(Encyclopedia)Kim Young Sam, 1927–2015, South Korean political leader, b. Gyeongsang prov. He was first elected to the National Assembly in 1954 and served nine terms. A long-time political dissident and opponent...

Browse by Subject