Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Villaraigosa, Antonio vēˌyärīgōˈsä [key], 1953–, American politician, b. Los Angeles as Antonio Villar; he changed his name in 1987 when he married Corina Raigosa. A liberal Democrat and labo...

(Encyclopedia) Santa Clara sănˈtə klârˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 93,613), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1852. Part of the Silicon Valley high-technology manufacturing complex, the city produces a variety of e...

(Encyclopedia) Burbidge, Margaret, 1925–2020, Anglo-American astronomer, b. England as Eleanor Margaret Peachey. Burbidge; her husband, Geoffrey Burbidge; William Fowler; and Sir Fred Hoyle showed (1956) how heavi...

(Encyclopedia) Goeppert-Mayer, Maria, 1906–72, German-American nuclear physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1930. She was a researcher at Johns Hopkins (1931–39), Columbia (1939–46), Argonne National Laborato...

(Encyclopedia) Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

(Encyclopedia) Guaymas gwīˈmäs [key], city, Sonora state, NW Mexico, on the bay of Guaymas. A port on the ...

(Encyclopedia) David and Lucile Packard Foundation, private philanthropic institution that funds nonprofit organizations. It was founded in 1964 by David Packard (1912–96), co-founder of Hewlett-Packard Co., and h...

(Encyclopedia) Davis, Gray (Joseph Graham Davis, Jr.), 1942–, U.S. politician, b. the Bronx, N.Y. A graduate of Stanford Univ. (1964) and Columbia Univ. Law School (1967), he entered the army and served in Vietnam...

(Encyclopedia) Miocene epoch mīˈəsēn [key], fourth epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from around 24.6 to 5.1 mill...

(Encyclopedia) O'Brien, William Shoney, c.1826–1878, American silver magnate, b. Dublin, Ireland. He was brought to the United States as a child and worked in a New York grocery store before going to California in...