Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Catawba, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Catawba kətôˈbə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Siouan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They have for centuries occupied a r...

weathering

(Encyclopedia)weathering, collective term for the processes by which rock at or near the earth's surface is disintegrated and decomposed by the action of atmospheric agents, water, and living things. Some of these ...

Zion National Park

(Encyclopedia)Zion National Park, 146,592 acres (59,349 hectares), SW Utah. First proclaimed a national monument in 1909, it was enlarged several times and established as a national park in 1919. The park is noted ...

Pohnpei

(Encyclopedia)Pohnpei pōnˈpā [key], state and island (1991 est. pop. 52,000), 129 sq mi (334 sq km), W Pacific, in the E Caroline Islands. It is one of four states comprising the Federated States of Micronesia. ...

Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Bartholdi, Frédéric Auguste frādārēkˈ ōgüstˈ bärtōldēˈ [key], 1834–1904, French sculptor, b. Colmar, Alsace. He studied painting under Ary Scheffer but turned to sculpture. Among his ma...

‘Oumuamua

(Encyclopedia)‘Oumuamua ōmo͞oˈəmo͞oˈə [key], officially 1I/2017 U1 (‘Oumuamua), interstellar object, the first to be discovered in the solar system. Highly variable in brightness, it also is highly and u...

Taft, Lorado

(Encyclopedia)Taft, Lorado lərāˈdō [key], 1860–1936, American sculptor, lecturer, and writer on art, b. Elmwood, Ill., studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1886 he became instructor at the Art Institute o...

MacArthur, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)MacArthur, Douglas, 1880–1964, American general, b. Little Rock, Ark.; son of Arthur MacArthur. At the beginning (1950) of the Korean War he was appointed commander of UN military forces in South ...

water supply

(Encyclopedia)water supply, process or activity by which water is provided for some use, e.g., to a home, factory, or business. The term may also refer to the supply of water provided in this way. In the United Sta...

glass

(Encyclopedia)glass, hard substance, usually brittle and transparent, composed chiefly of silicates and an alkali fused at high temperature. Glass has become invaluable in modern architecture, illumination, elect...
 

Browse by Subject