Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) McDowell, Irvin, 1818–85, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Columbus, Ohio. He taught at West Point (1841–45) and was made captain for his service in the Mexican War. In the Civil War, M...

(Encyclopedia) Ojeda, Alonso de älōnˈsō ᵺā ōhāˈᵺä [key], c.1466–1515?, Spanish conquistador. He joined Columbus on his second voyage and in 1499—at first accompanied by Vespucci—explored the north...

(Encyclopedia) Margarita märgärēˈtä [key], island, 444 sq mi (1,150 sq km), in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela. With many smaller islands it constitutes the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta (1990 ...

(Encyclopedia) John II (John the Perfect), 1455–95, king of Portugal (1481–95), son and successor of Alfonso V. He was an astute politician and statesman and a patron of Renaissance art and learning. He reduced ...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Franklin Pierce, pseud. F. P. A., 1881–1960, American columnist and author, b. Chicago. He began (1903) work as a columnist on the Chicago Journal and continued it on the New York Evening Mai...

(Encyclopedia) Woods, Granville Taylor,, 1856–1910, African-American inventor, b. Columbus, Ohio. He worked in a railroad shop as a youth, becoming a machinist and blacksmith. He subsequently worked on trains, fir...

(Encyclopedia) World's Columbian Exposition, held at Chicago, May–Nov., 1893, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Authorized (1890) by Congress, it was pl...

(Encyclopedia) Taft, Lorado lərāˈdō [key], 1860–1936, American sculptor, lecturer, and writer on art, b. Elmwood, Ill., studied at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1886 he became instructor at the Art Institute o...

(Encyclopedia) Bahía, Islas de la ēzˈläs ᵺā lä bäēˈə [key], or Bay Islands, archipelago (1996 est. pop. 28,448), 144 sq mi (373 sq km), off the north coast of Honduras, in the Caribbean Sea. The archipel...

(Encyclopedia) Thomas, Alma Woodsey, 1891–1978, American painter, b. Columbus, Ga., B.S. Howard Univ., 1921, M.A. Teachers College, 1934. Thomas grew up in Washington, D.C., and taught (1924–60) in junior high s...