Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Rietveld, Gerrit Thomas gĕrĭtˈ tōˈməs rētˈfĕlt [key], 1888–1965, Dutch architect and furniture designer. At first a cabinetmaker, Rietveld created (c.1917) a chair that was an important con...

hydrogen cyanide

(Encyclopedia)hydrogen cyanide, HCN, colorless, volatile, and extremely poisonous chemical compound whose vapors have a bitter almond odor. It melts at −14℃ and boils at 26℃. It is miscible in all proportions...

gas, fuel

(Encyclopedia)gas, fuel, gaseous substance that burns in air and releases enough heat to be useful as a fuel, while also remaining sufficiently stable at ordinary temperatures to permit long-term storage without de...

Wesley, John

(Encyclopedia)Wesley, John, 1703–91, English evangelical preacher, founder of Methodism, b. Epworth, Lincolnshire. After his conversion, Wesley became involved in evangelistic work, in the course of which he is...

Uniontown

(Encyclopedia)Uniontown, city (1990 pop. 12,034), seat of Fayette co., SW Pa., near the W.Va. line; settled c.1767, inc. as a city 1916. It is a farm trade center and an industrial city. Formerly noted for its prod...

Zabrze

(Encyclopedia)Zabrze zäbˈzhĕ [key], Ger. Hindenburg, city (1992 est. pop. 202,800), Śląskie prov., S Poland. It is a railway junction in the Katowice mining and industrial region. Local coal deposits form the ...

Magnitogorsk

(Encyclopedia)Magnitogorsk məgnyēˌtəgôrskˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 440,000), SW Siberian Russia, on the slopes of Mt. Magnitnaya in the S Urals, on the Ural River. Built (1929–31) under the first Five-Year P...

water gas

(Encyclopedia)water gas, colorless poisonous gas that burns with an intensely hot, bluish (nearly colorless) flame. The gas is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen with very small amounts of other gases, e.g.,...

producer gas

(Encyclopedia)producer gas, fuel gas consisting chiefly of carbon monoxide and nitrogen. It is prepared in a furnace or generator in which air is forced upward through a burning fuel of coal or coke. Although the f...

Zeebrugge

(Encyclopedia)Zeebrugge zāˈbrŭˌgə [key], outer port of Bruges (Brugge), West Flanders prov., NW Belgium, on the North Sea. Zeebrugge was developed c.1900 to replace the silted-up port of Bruges; it is connecte...