Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

426 results found

Camões, Luís de

(Encyclopedia)Camões or Camoens, Luís de both: lo͞oēshˈ dĭ kəmoiNshˈ [key], 1524?–1580, Portuguese poet, the greatest figure in Portuguese literature. Born of a poor family, Camões gained wide familiarit...

Argus

(Encyclopedia)Argus ärˈgŏs, –gəs [key], in Greek mythology. 1 Many-eyed monster, also called Panoptes. He guarded Io after she had been changed into a heifer. After Hermes slew the monster, Hera took his eyes...

McKay, Donald

(Encyclopedia)McKay, Donald məkāˈ, məkīˈ [key], 1810–80, American shipbuilder, b. Nova Scotia. He opened his own shipyard in Newburyport, Mass., in 1841, then moved to Boston in 1845. He grew celebrated as ...

Kittery

(Encyclopedia)Kittery kĭtˈərē [key], town (1990 pop. 9,372), York co., extreme SW Maine, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River opposite Portsmouth, N.H.; inc. 1647. Its economy centers around tourism and the Por...

Herreshoff, John Brown

(Encyclopedia)Herreshoff, John Brown hĕrˈəs-hŏf [key], 1841–1915, American yacht and ship builder. Though totally blind from the time he was 15, he managed his own sail-boat building company until his brother...

Gray, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Robert, 1755–1806, American sea captain, discoverer of the Columbia River, b. Tiverton, R.I. He probably served in the Continental navy in the American Revolution. In 1787 he and Capt. John Ke...

Ermoupolis

(Encyclopedia)Ermoupolis, Hermoupolis sēˈrôs [key], city, capital of Cyclades prefecture, SE Greece, on the east coast ...

icebreaker

(Encyclopedia)icebreaker, ship of special hull design and wide beam, with relatively flat bottom, designed to force its way through ice. When the icebreaker charges into the ice at full speed, its sharply inclined ...

dry rot

(Encyclopedia)dry rot, fungus disease that attacks both softwood and hardwood timber. Destruction of the cellulose causes discoloration and eventual crumbling of the wood. This frequently results in the collapse of...

Chester, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Chester, city (2020 pop. 32,605), Delaware co., SE Pa., on the Delaware River south of Philadelphia; settled c.1644 by Swedes, inc. as a city 1866. A po...