Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Cook, James

(Encyclopedia)Cook, James, 1728–79, English explorer and navigator. The son of a Yorkshire agricultural laborer, he had little formal education. After an apprenticeship to a firm of shipowners at Whitby, he joine...

Lambert, John

(Encyclopedia)Lambert, John, 1619–83, English parliamentary general. He fought in the first civil war (1642–46) and assisted Henry Ireton in drawing up the Heads of the Proposals in 1647. In 1648 he commanded t...

Manila Bay

(Encyclopedia)Manila Bay, nearly landlocked inlet of the South China Sea, SW Luzon, the Philippines. About 35 mi (56 km) wide at its broadest point and 30 mi (48 km) long, it is the best natural harbor in E Asia an...

Heyerdahl, Thor

(Encyclopedia)Heyerdahl, Thor hāˈərdälˌ, hīˈ– [key], 1914–2002, Norwegian explorer and anthropologist, b. Larvik. He carried out research in the Marquesas Islands in 1937–38 and studied the indigenous ...

Pawtucket

(Encyclopedia)Pawtucket pətəkˈət [key], city (1990 pop. 72,644), Providence co., NE R.I., on the Blackstone River at Pawtucket Falls; settled 1671, inc. 1885 after the eastern section (which was part of Massach...

Wall Street

(Encyclopedia)Wall Street, narrow street in the lower part of Manhattan island, New York City, extending E from Broadway to the East River. It is the center of one of the greatest financial districts in the world, ...

Puerto Rico

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Puerto Rico rēˈkō [key], island (2015 est. pop. 3,674,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. Officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Ric...

El Niño–Southern Oscillation

(Encyclopedia)El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ĕl nēnˈyō [key], large-scale climatic fluctuation of the tropical Pacific Ocean and the overlying atmosphere. The El Niño [Span.,=the child] is the South Am...

Savannah, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Savannah, city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. A rail, fishing, and industrial center, it is a leading southern port ...

Youth, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Youth, Isle of, Span. Isla de la Juventud, island and special municipality (1989 est. pop. 71,500), 1,180 sq mi (3,056 sq km), off SW Cuba, from which it is separated by the Batabanó Gulf. Until 1978...

Browse by Subject