Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Great Sandy Desert

(Encyclopedia)Great Sandy Desert, Australia's second-largest desert, c.110,000 sq mi (284,900 sq km), Western Australia and Northern Territory. Lying between the Tanami Desert (NE) and the Gibson Desert (S), it is ...

Griffey, Ken, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Griffey, Ken, Jr. (George Kenneth Griffey, Jr.), 1969–, American baseball player, b. Donora, Pa. The son of a veteran outfielder, he joined the Seattle Mariners of the American League in 1989, playe...

O'Brien, William Shoney

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, William Shoney, c.1826–1878, American silver magnate, b. Dublin, Ireland. He was brought to the United States as a child and worked in a New York grocery store before going to California in...

Latynina, Larysa Semyonovna

(Encyclopedia)Latynina, Larysa or Larisa Semyonovna, 1934–, Soviet-Ukrainian gymnast, the dominant female gymnast of her era, b. Kherson. She was the first athlete to win nine Olympic gold medals and 18 total med...

Ketchikan

(Encyclopedia)Ketchikan kĕˈchĭkănˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 8,263), SE Alaska, a port of entry on Revillagigedo Island in the Alexander Archipelago. A supply point for miners in the gold rush of the 1890s, it ha...

Whitehorse

(Encyclopedia)Whitehorse, city (1991 pop. 17,925), S Yukon, Canada, on the Yukon River. Since 1952 it has been the territorial capital. Whitehorse is on the Alaska Highway and was the terminus of the White Pass and...

Rupp, Adolph Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Rupp, Adolph Frederick, 1901–77, American college basketball coach, b. Halstead, Kans. He attended the Univ. of Kansas (grad. 1923), and began coaching at the Univ. of Kentucky in 1930, leading the ...

Tunja

(Encyclopedia)Tunja to͞onˈhä [key], city (1993 pop. 101,622), capital of Boyacá dept., central Colombia, on the Pan-American Highway. It is a commercial center and distribution point for the products of the reg...

Smith, Stevie

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Stevie (Margaret Florence Smith), 1902–71, English poet and novelist, b. Hull, Yorkshire. At first unnoticed as a poet, she worked in a London publisher's office until 1953. Steadily gaining ...

Tibetan terrier

(Encyclopedia)Tibetan terrier, breed of medium-sized dog originating in Tibet probably several thousand years ago. It stands from 14 to 16 in. (35.6–40.6 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 15 to 30 lb (6.8â...