Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

life preserver

(Encyclopedia)life preserver, a personal flotation device (PFD) intended to keep the wearer afloat, particularly in case of shipwreck. A Type I PFD will keep even unconscious people afloat in a face–up position; ...

Meles Zenawi

(Encyclopedia)Meles Zenawi mĕˈlĕs zĕnäˈwē [key], 1955–2012, Ethiopian political leader, prime minister of Ethiopia (1995–2012), b. Adwa. After two years of medical studies at the Univ. of Addis Ababa, he...

Tupac Amaru

(Encyclopedia)Tupac Amaru to͞opäkˈ ämäˈro͞o [key], 1742?–1781, leader of indigenous peoples in the viceroyalty of Peru, baptized José Gabriel Condorcanqui. A man of some education and of high moral charac...

Afwerki, Isaias

(Encyclopedia)Afwerki or Afewerki, Isaias, 1945–, Eritrean political leader, president of Eritrea (1993–), b. Asmara. He studied engineering at the Univ. of Addis Ababa, leaving in 1966 to join the Eritrean Lib...

Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych

(Encyclopedia)Zelenskiy, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych, 1978–, Ukrainian political leader and entertainer, president of Ukraine (2019–). He ear...

raft

(Encyclopedia)raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

Mitochondrial Eve

(Encyclopedia)Mitochondrial Eve, in genetics, a theoretical female ancestor of all living people; see Eve, in genetics. ...

Y Chromosome Adam

(Encyclopedia)Y Chromosome Adam, in genetics, a theoretical male ancestor of all living people; see Eve, in genetics. ...

Aenon

(Encyclopedia)Aenon ēˈnŏn [key], in the New Testament, unidentified place, where John the Baptist baptized people. ...

Tangier, island, United States

(Encyclopedia)Tangier, island, E Va., in S Chesapeake Bay. Capt. John Smith first visited the island in 1608, and in 1620 settlers arrived from Cornwall, England. Isolated from the mainland, the people of Tangier d...