Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) turnpike, road paid for partly or wholly by fees collected from travelers at tollgates. It derives its name from the hinged bar that prevented passage through such a gate until the toll was paid. See ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 national parks and monuments. The National Park Service, a bureau of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, was established in 1916 to oversee the administration of 40 national parks and monuments und...

(Encyclopedia) savings and loan association (S&L), type of financial institution that was originally created to accept savings from private investors and to provide home mortgage services for the public. The fir...

(Encyclopedia) Ouachita wôˈshĭtôˌ [key], river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising in the Ouachita Mts., W Ark. It flows east, southeast, and south through a cotton-producing region of S Arkansas and NE Louisiana a...

(Encyclopedia) Flagg, Azariah Cutting, 1790–1873, American political leader, b. Orwell, Vt. He fought in the War of 1812, was editor of the Plattsburgh (N.Y.) Republican until 1825, and was elected (1823) to the N...

(Encyclopedia) Morley, Edward Williams, 1838–1923, American scientist, b. Newark, N.J., grad. Williams College, 1860. From 1869 to 1906 he was professor of chemistry at Western Reserve College (now Case Western Re...

(Encyclopedia) biennial, plant requiring two years to complete its life cycle, as distinguished from an annual or a perennial. In the first year a biennial usually produces a rosette of leaves (e.g., the cabbage) an...

(Encyclopedia) SI: see International System of Units. ...

(Encyclopedia) Cape York Peninsula, 280 mi (451 km) long, N Queensland, Australia, between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Coral Sea. It is largely tropical jungle and...

(Encyclopedia) Mauna Kea mouˈnə kāˈə [key], dormant volcano, 13,796 ft (4,205 m) high, in the south central part of the island of Hawaii. It is the loftiest peak in the Hawaiian Islands and the highest island m...