Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

486 results found

McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold

(Encyclopedia)McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold, 1819–1907, British arctic explorer. As a lieutenant in the navy he was assigned to his first arctic service in 1848, when Sir James Clark Ross went in search of the ...

Darlan, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Darlan, Jean François zhäN fräNswäˈ därläNˈ [key], 1881–1942, French admiral. A career naval officer, he became commander of the French navy in 1939 and joined the Vichy government (see unde...

Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md. He had seen years of merchant service before he became (1798) a lieutenant in the new U.S. navy. He served in the Tripolitan War...

Gosport

(Encyclopedia)Gosport gŏsˈpôrt [key], city and district, Hampshire, S England. The city is a major port ...

Denby, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Denby, Edwin, 1870–1929, U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1921–24), b. Evansville, Ind. President Harding appointed him to the cabinet. In 1924 he was involved in the scandal about the oil reserves (se...

Welles, Gideon

(Encyclopedia)Welles, Gideon wĕlz [key], 1802–78, American statesman, b. Glastonbury, Conn. He was (1826–36) editor and part owner of the Hartford Times, one of the first New England papers to support Andrew J...

Surgeon General, United States

(Encyclopedia)Surgeon General, United States, former head of the U.S. Public Health Service, which is responsible for protecting the people's health (see public health). Since a 1986 reorganization, the surgeon gen...

Mariana Trench

(Encyclopedia)Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench, mârˌēănˈəz [key], elongated depression on the Pacific Ocean floor, 210 mi (338 km) SW of Guam. It is the deepest known depression on the earth's surface, havin...

Cinque Ports

(Encyclopedia)Cinque Ports sĭngk [key] [O. Fr.,=five ports], name applied to an association of maritime towns in Sussex and Kent, SE England. They originally numbered five: Hastings, Romney (now New Romney), Hythe...

Warner, John William III

(Encyclopedia) Warner, John William III, 1927-2021, U.S. politician, b. Washington, D.C., Washington and Lee Univ. (B.A., 1949), Univ. of Va. School of Law (J.D., 19...

Browse by Subject