Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

State, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)State, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government responsible, under the President's direction, for the making and execution of American foreign policy. Before and ...

Rhode Island, state, United States

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Rhode Island, smallest state in the United States, located in New England; bounded by Massachusetts (N and E), the Atlantic Ocean (S), and Connecticut (W). Until well into the 20th cent. ...

New York, state, United States

(Encyclopedia) CE5 New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario ...

galena

(Encyclopedia)galena gəlēˈnə [key] or lead glance, lustrous, blue-gray mineral crystallizing usually in cubes, sometimes in octahedrons. It is the most important ore and the principal source of lead. It consist...

Pratt, Parley Parker

(Encyclopedia)Pratt, Parley Parker, 1807–57, Mormon apostle, b. Otsego co., N.Y.; brother of Orson Pratt. He joined (1830) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was made an apostle in 1835. In 1838,...

capital punishment

(Encyclopedia)capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. Since the 1970s almost all capital sentences in the United States have been imposed for homicide. There has been intense debate reg...

Yucatán, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Yucatán yo͞okətănˈ, –kätänˈ [key], state (1990 pop. 1,362,940), 14,868 sq mi (38,508 sq km), SE Mexico, occupying most of the northern part of the Yucatán peninsula. It lies between Campech...

Mountain Meadows

(Encyclopedia)Mountain Meadows, small valley in extreme SW Utah, where in 1857 a party of some 140 emigrants bound for California were massacred. It was a period when friction between Mormons and non-Mormons was ac...

United States, Great Seal of the

(Encyclopedia)United States, Great Seal of the, official impression that validates a United States government document. It was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1782 and, with only minor changes in the design,...

Rainbow Bridge National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Rainbow Bridge National Monument, 160 acres (65 hectares), S Utah; est. 1910. Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural bridge in the world, is a symmetrical, pink, sandstone arch, 309 ft (94 m) high, 33 ft...
 

Browse by Subject