Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Loa

(Encyclopedia)Loa lōˈä [key], longest river of Chile, 275 mi (443 km) long, flowing S from the Andes, N Chile, then W and N through the Atacama Desert, before turning W to the Pacific Ocean. It is not navigable ...

vegetable

(Encyclopedia)vegetable, term originally used for any plant, now the name for many food plants, most of them annuals, and for their edible parts. There is no clear botanical distinction between vegetables and fruit...

Damodar

(Encyclopedia)Damodar däˈmōdär [key], river, 370 mi (595 km) long, rising in Jharkhand state, E India, and flowing SE through West Bengal state to join the Hugli River below Kolkata (Calcutta). Its dams supply ...

Lost Battalion

(Encyclopedia)Lost Battalion, in World War I, popular name given to those American units of the 77th Division—six companies of the 1st and 2d battalions of the 308th Infantry, one company of the 307th Infantry, a...

Riga, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Riga, Treaty of, either of two peace treaties signed at Riga, Latvia. By the Treaty of Riga of 1920, between the USSR and Latvia, the USSR recognized Latvian independence. The Treaty of Riga of 1921, ...

bone meal

(Encyclopedia)bone meal, finely ground bone used as a fertilizer for its content of phosphate and nitrogen (about 23%–30% available phosphate and 2%–4% nitrogen); it is an expensive form of phosphoric acid when...

excess profits tax

(Encyclopedia)excess profits tax, levy on any profit above a standard level. Chiefly a wartime phenomenon, it is intended to increase revenue during periods of distress and to prevent businessmen from taking unfair...

Harvey, William Hope

(Encyclopedia)Harvey, William Hope, 1851–1936, American writer on economics, called Coin Harvey, b. Buffalo, Putnam co., W.Va. He studied at Marshall College, practiced law, and interested himself in monetary pro...

Willemstad

(Encyclopedia)Willemstad vĭlˈəmstät [key], city (1992 pop. 24,235), capital of Curaçao and former capital of the Netherlands Antilles. The city was the commercial and industrial center of the Netherlands Antil...

power, electric

(Encyclopedia)power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some ...