Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Napolitano, Janet Ann

(Encyclopedia)Napolitano, Janet Ann,, 1957 - , American politican and university administrator, b. New York, N.Y., Santa Clara (Ca.) Univ. (B.A., 1979); ...

Jimson weed

(Encyclopedia)Jimson weed or Jamestown weed, large, coarse annual plant (Datura stramonium) of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family), native to warm-temperate and tropical regions of the New World, but long wid...

Segal, Jr., George

(Encyclopedia) Segal, George, Jr., 1934-2021, American actor, b. New York City, Columbia Univ. (B.A., 1955). Raised in Great Neck, Long Island, Segal began his caree...

Parsons, Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Parsons, Lucy, 1851–1942, American anarchist and labor activist. Although she claimed publicly to have been born of Mexican and Native American descent as Lucia Gonzalez, she was likely born in slav...

Bell, John

(Encyclopedia)Bell, John, 1797–1869, American statesman, b. near Nashville, Tenn. A leading member of the Nashville bar, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1827–41), was speaker in 1834, and for a ...

Cantor, Eric Ivan

(Encyclopedia)Cantor, Eric Ivan, 1963–, U.S. politician, b. Richmond, Va., grad. George Washington Univ. (B.A., 1985), William and Mary (J.D., 1988), Columbia (M.S., 1989). A conservative Republican, he worked as...

Havel

(Encyclopedia)Havel häˈfəl [key], river, c.215 mi (350 km) long, rising in the lake region of Mecklenburg, N Germany. It flows generally S through West Berlin to Potsdam where it turns west. At Brandenburg it tu...

Kangaroo Island

(Encyclopedia)Kangaroo Island, island, c.1,700 sq mi (4,400 sq km), S Australia, in South Australia at the entrance to Gulf St. Vincent. It is 93 mi (150 km) long and 35 mi (57 km) wide. The chief products are barl...

Fort Chipewyan

(Encyclopedia)Fort Chipewyan chĭpəwīˈən [key], trading post, NE Alta., Canada, at the west end of Lake Athabasca. The old Fort Chipewyan, on the south shore, was built for the North West Company at the urging ...

Becker, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Becker, Boris, 1967–, German tennis player, b. Leimen, West Germany (now Germany). Noted for his powerful, often acrobatic serve-and-volley game, he gained notice in 1985 when, at 17, he became the ...
 

Browse by Subject