Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

state flowers

(Encyclopedia)state flowers. Each state of the United States has designated, usually by legislative action, one flower as its floral emblem; the rose has been designated by Congress as the national flower of the Un...

Tygart

(Encyclopedia)Tygart tīˈgərt [key], river, c.160 mi (260 km) long, rising in E West Virginia and flowing north to join the West Fork and form the Monongahela at Fairmont. Tygart River Dam (completed 1938), near ...

Clark, George Rogers

(Encyclopedia)Clark, George Rogers, 1752–1818, American Revolutionary general, conqueror of the Old Northwest, b. near Charlottesville, Va.; brother of William Clark. A surveyor, he was interested in Western land...

Nelson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Nelson, Thomas, 1738–89, American Revolutionary general, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Yorktown, Va. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress (1775–77, 1779), commander (1777â...

Vienna, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Vienna, town (1990 pop. 14,852), Fairfax co., N Va., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. 1890. There is computer software research. Originally called Springfield, Vienna became the site of ...

Thirteen Colonies, the

(Encyclopedia)Thirteen Colonies, the, term used for the colonies of British North America that joined together in the American Revolution against the mother country, adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776,...

McDowell, Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)McDowell, Ephraim məkdoulˈ, –douˈəl [key], 1771–1830, American pioneer surgeon, b. Virginia. He studied with the Scottish surgeon John Bell in Edinburgh and practiced in Danville, Ky. He was n...

Binns, John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Binns, John Alexander, c.1761–1813, American agriculturist, b. Loudoun co., Va. He was one of the first to experiment with gypsum as a fertilizer and to convince others of its efficacy. Partly throu...

Bannack

(Encyclopedia)Bannack bănˈək [key], SW Mont. Founded in 1862 when gold was discovered along Grasshopper Creek, Bannack was the first town in Montana and was the first territorial capital (1864–65). It declined...

Johnston, Mary

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Mary, 1870–1936, American novelist, b. Buchanan, Va. Her books combine romance with history. She is chiefly remembered for To Have and to Hold (1900), a story of colonial Virginia, and its...