Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pompeii

(Encyclopedia)Pompeii pŏmpāˈ, Ital. pōmpĕˈē [key], ancient city of S Italy, a port near Naples and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Possibly an old Oscan settlement, it was a Samnite city for centuries before it...

President's Park

(Encyclopedia)President's Park, c.82 acres (33 hectares), Washington, D.C. A unit of the National Park system, it includes the White House, the official residence of the president of the United States; Lafayette Sq...

Sumy

(Encyclopedia)Sumy, city (1989 pop. 291,000), capital of Sumy region, NE Ukraine. Sugar refining is the major industry; other manufactures include furniture and shoes. Founded as a defensive settlement in 1652, it ...

Foley, Thomas Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Foley, Thomas Stephen, 1929–2013, U.S. congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1989–95), b. Spokane, Wash. A lawyer, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964 ...

Baleshwar

(Encyclopedia)Baleshwar bäˈləsôr [key], town, Odisha (Orissa) state, E India, near the Bay of Bengal on the ...

igloo

(Encyclopedia)igloo ĭgˈlo͞o [key] [Inuit,=house]. The Eskimos traditionally had three types of houses. A summer house, which was basically a tent, a winter house, which was usually partially dug into the ground ...

Maitland

(Encyclopedia)Maitland, city (2016 pop. 77,305), New South Wales, SE Australia, on the Hunter River. It is a railroad junction and agricultural center with light manufacturing. Maitland began as a convict settlemen...

Rachel, Russian poet who wrote in Hebrew

(Encyclopedia)Rachel, pseud. of Rachel Bluwstein, 1890–1931, Russian poet who wrote in Hebrew. She moved to Palestine in 1909 where she worked as a laborer. Her verse is simple and relates to the experience of Je...

Portsmouth, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Portsmouth. 1 City (1990 pop. 25,925), Rockingham co., SE N.H., a port of entry with a good harbor and a state-owned port terminal at the mouth of the Piscataqua River opposite Kittery, Maine; inc. 16...

Alcamo

(Encyclopedia)Alcamo älˈkämō [key], city, NW Sicily, Italy. It is an agricultural and industrial center and is noted for its white wine. The ruins of the ancient Greek settlement of...