Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Matagorda Bay

(Encyclopedia)Matagorda Bay mătəgôrˈdə [key], inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, c.50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 12 mi (4.8–19 km) wide, SE Tex., protected by a long sandspit, Matagorda Peninsula. It receives t...

jackrabbit

(Encyclopedia)jackrabbit, popular name for several hares of W North America, characterized by very long legs and ears. Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers and fast runners. In normal progress leaps are alternated with...

Kickapoo

(Encyclopedia)Kickapoo kĭkˈəpo͞o [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages) and who in the late 17t...

Toledo , city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Toledo təlēˈdō [key], city (1990 pop. 332,943), seat of Lucas co., NW Ohio, on the Maumee River at its junction with Lake Erie; inc. 1837. With a natural harbor and its railroads and highways, Tol...

Indiana, state, United States

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Indiana, midwestern state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan (N), Ohio (E), Kentucky, across the Ohio River (S), and Illinois (W). Indu...

Clark, Alvan

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Alvan, 1804–87, American astronomer and maker of astronomical lenses, b. Ashfield, Mass. In 1846 the firm of Alvan Clark & Sons was established at Cambridgeport, Mass.; it became famous a...

District of Columbia

(Encyclopedia)District of Columbia, federal district (2020 pop. 689,545), 69 sq mi (179 sq km), on the east bank of the Potomac River, coextensive with the city of Wa...

Fages, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)Fages, Pedro pāˈᵺrō fäˈhās [key], fl. 1767–96, Spanish governor of Alta California (1782–91). In Mexico in 1767, he was ordered to accompany the expedition of Gaspar de Portolá, which est...

Fort Riley

(Encyclopedia)Fort Riley, U.S. military post, 5,760 acres (2,331 hectares), NE Kans., on the Kansas River; est. 1852 to protect travelers on the Santa Fe Trail from attack by Native Americans. Located near the geog...

Sterling Heights

(Encyclopedia)Sterling Heights, city (1990 pop. 117,810), Macomb co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; platted 1835 as Jefferson Township, renamed 1838, inc. 1968. Largely rural until the mid-20th cent., the city gr...
 

Browse by Subject