Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Rudolph, Wilma Glodean, 1940–94, American track and field athlete, b. Clarksville, Tenn. The 20th of 22 children, she overcame childhood polio to become one of the premiere athletes of her time. She...

(Encyclopedia) Schwab, Charles Michael shwäb [key], 1862–1939, American steel magnate, b. Williamsburg, Pa. He started as a stake driver in Andrew Carnegie's steelworks and rose to become (1897) president of the ...

(Encyclopedia) Adams, Henry Carter, 1851–1921, American economist, b. Davenport, Iowa. He developed an interest in public finance at Johns Hopkins and pursued this field during later studies in Germany. He taught ...

(Encyclopedia) San Cristóbal sän krēstōˈbäl [key], city (1990 pop. 220,675), capital of Táchira state, W Venezuela, in a mountainous region near the Colombian border. It is a commercial, transportation, and i...

(Encyclopedia) San Cristóbal sän krēstōˈbäl [key], active volcano, c.5,725 ft (1,745 m) high, Chinandega dept., NW Nicaragua. Part of a complex of five volcanic mountains, it is the country's highest volcano a...

(Encyclopedia) Edgeøya ĕdˈyə-öyä [key] or Edge Island, island of the Svalbard group, 1,942 sq mi (5,030 sq km), Norway, in the Barents Sea, E of Spitsbergen. It rises to 2,349 ft (716 m). An ice field covers S...

(Encyclopedia) Alsop, Richard ôlˈsəp [key], 1761–1815, American author, b. Middletown, Conn. Best remembered as one of the Connecticut Wits, he collaborated with Theodore Dwight and others in writing light sati...

(Encyclopedia) Gustavus VI (Gustaf Adolf), 1882–1973, king of Sweden (1950–73), son and successor of Gustavus V. After the death (1920) of his first wife, Princess Margaret of Connaught, he married (1923) Lady L...

(Encyclopedia) Grimaldi, Francesco Maria fränchāsˈkō märēˈä grēmälˈdē [key], 1618?–1663, Italian physicist and mathematician. A Jesuit and professor at Bologna, he studied in detail and named the dark ...

(Encyclopedia) magnetic pole, the two roughly opposite ends of the planet where the earth's magnetic intensity is the greatest, as the north and south magnetic poles. For the magnetic north, it is the direction from...