Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) tanzanite tănzănˈīt [key], beautiful gemstone discovered in 1967 in the Umba Valley near the Usambara Mts. in Tanzania, a precious variety of the mineral zoisite, a calcium aluminum silicate. Zois...

(Encyclopedia) Mississippi, University of, main campus at Oxford; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1844, opened 1848. The university medical center, which includes the schools of medicine, dentistry, and nu...

(Encyclopedia) Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It con...

(Encyclopedia) sapphire, precious stone. A transparent blue corundum, it is classified among the most valuable of gems. Sapphires are found chiefly in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar and also in Thailand, Tanzani...

(Encyclopedia) Young, Whitney Moore, Jr., 1921–71, African-American civil-rights leader; b. Lincoln Ridge, Ky. A social worker by profession, he joined the National Urban League in 1947 as director of industrial r...

(Encyclopedia) blueprint, white-on-blue photographic print, commonly of a working drawing used during building or manufacturing. The plan is first drawn to scale on a special paper or tracing cloth through which lig...

(Encyclopedia) Catholic University of America, at Washington, D.C.; the national university of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States; coeducational; founded 1887 and opened 1889. It includes a college of ar...

(Encyclopedia) Curtis, Samuel Ryan, 1805–66, Union general in the Civil War, b. Clinton co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1831. Curtis won a decisive victory at Pea Ridge (1862) and was therefore promoted to major gene...

(Encyclopedia) Carr, Eugene Asa, 1830–1910, Union general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Concord, Erie co., N.Y., grad. West Point, 1850. In the Civil War he distinguished himself at Wilson's Creek (1861) and Pea Ridge...

(Encyclopedia) Byng, Julian Hedworth George, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy vĭmˈē, vēmēˈ [key], 1862–1935, British general. He served in India and South Africa and had several commands in World War I. In Apr., 19...