Columbia Encyclopedia

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screw

(Encyclopedia)screw, simple machine consisting essentially of a solid cylinder, usually of metal, around which an inclined plane winds spirally, either clockwise or counterclockwise. It is used to fasten one object...

Kesey, Ken Elton

(Encyclopedia)Kesey, Ken Elton, 1935–2001, American novelist and counterculture figure, b. La Junta, Colo.; grad. Univ. of Oregon (1957), Stanford Univ. (1960). While a student he volunteered for a hospital study...

Muir, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Muir, Edwin, 1887–1959, British author, b. Orkney Islands, Scotland. He moved with his family to Glasgow in 1901, where he remained for 18 years. In 1919 he went to London and joined the staff on th...

Fast, Howard

(Encyclopedia)Fast, Howard, 1914–2003, American author, b. New York City. A prolific writer, he is best known for historical novels that mainly concern rebellion against various forms of tyranny. They include Cit...

Baltimore & Ohio Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O), first U.S. public railroad, chartered in 1827 by a group of Baltimore businessmen to regain trans-Allegheny traffic lost to the newly opened Erie Canal. Constr...

Means, Russell

(Encyclopedia)Means, Russell, 1939–2012, Native American activist, b. Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.Dak. An Oglala Sioux, he grew up near San Francisco, and attended four colleges but never graduated. He joine...

mansard roof

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Mansard roof mansard roof mănˈsärd [key], type of roof, so named because it was frequently used by the French architect François Mansart. It was not devised by him but was used early in th...

Hardee, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hardee, William Joseph, 1815–73, American army officer, Confederate general, b. Camden co., Ga. A graduate of West Point, he served with distinction in the Mexican War and compiled Rifle and Light I...

Rickover, Hyman George

(Encyclopedia)Rickover, Hyman George, 1900–1986, American admiral, b. Russia. In World War II he served as head of the electrical section of the navy's Bureau of Ships. After the war he was assigned (1946) to the...

Carmel, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Carmel, Mount kärˈməl [key] [Heb.,=garden land], mountain ridge, NW Israel, extending 13 mi (21 km) NW from the plain of Esdraelon to the Mediterranean Sea, where it ends in a promontory marking th...