Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

486 results found

Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai Andreyevich

(Encyclopedia)Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai Andreyevich nyĭkəlī əndrāˈəvĭch rĭmˈskē-kôrˈsəkôf [key], 1844–1908, Russian composer; one of the group of nationalist composers called The Five. He prepared h...

Star-Spangled Banner, The

(Encyclopedia)Star-Spangled Banner, The, American national anthem, beginning, “O say can you see by the dawn's early light.” The words were written by Francis Scott Key, a young Washington attorney who during t...

Canning, George

(Encyclopedia)Canning, George, 1770–1827, British statesman. Canning was converted to Toryism by the French Revolution, became a disciple of William Pitt, and was his undersecretary for foreign affairs (1796–99...

Morgenthau, Robert Morris

(Encyclopedia) Morgenthau, Robert Morris, , 1919-2009, b. New York, N.Y, Amherst College (B.A., 1941); Yale Univ. Law School (J.D., 1948). He was the son of Henry Mor...

Hearne, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Hearne, Samuel hûrn [key], 1745–92, British fur trader, explorer in N Canada. He entered the British navy at the age of 11 and saw service in the naval battles of the Seven Years War. In 1766 he wa...

De Long, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)De Long, George Washington də lôngˈ [key], 1844–81, American arctic explorer, b. New York City, grad. Annapolis, 1865. In 1873 he was assigned to the Juniata, which was sent to the arctic to sear...

Confederate cruisers

(Encyclopedia)Confederate cruisers, in U.S. history, warships constituting the South's seagoing navy. At the outbreak of the Civil War the United States ranked next to Great Britain in merchant marine. Since almost...

San Francisco Bay

(Encyclopedia)San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. The bay is as deep as 100 ft (30 m) in spots, ...

Okinawa

(Encyclopedia)Okinawa ōˌkĭnäˈwä [key], island (1990 pop. 1,222,458), 454 sq mi (1,176 sq km), W Pacific Ocean, SW of Kyushu; a part of Okinawa prefecture, Japan. It is the largest of the Okinawa Islands in th...

Norfolk Island

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk Island nôrˈfək [key], island (2016 pop. 1,748), 13 sq mi (34 sq km), South Pacific, a territory of Australia, c.1,035 mi (1,670 km) NE of Sydney. Its capital is Kingston. Now a resort, Norf...