Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Fields, James Thomas, 1817–81, American author and publisher, b. Portsmouth, N.H. He was the junior partner of Ticknor and Fields, noted Boston publishing house in the mid-19th cent. He edited (1861...

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Margaret Chase, 1897–1995, U.S. senator from Maine (1949–73), b. Skowhegan, Maine. She taught school briefly and then worked (1919–28) on the Skowhegan weekly newspaper. In 1930 she marri...

(Encyclopedia) vending machine, coin-operated, automatic device for selling goods. Many vending machines are capable of making change, and some of the more sophisticated ones accept paper money or credit cards. The ...

(Encyclopedia) Ordinance of 1787, adopted by the Congress of Confederation for the government of the Western territories ceded to the United States by the states. It created the Northwest Territory and is frequently...

(Encyclopedia) Crabbe, George, 1754–1832, English poet, b. Aldeburgh, Suffolk. After practicing medicine for a short time, he went to London in 1780, hoping to earn money by his writing. He was befriended by Edmun...

(Encyclopedia) Cayley, Sir George, 1773–1857, British scientist. He is recognized as the founder of aerodynamics on the basis of his pioneering experiments and studies of the principles of flight. He experimented ...

(Encyclopedia) Boydell, John boiˈdəl [key], 1719–1804, English engraver and print publisher, originator and builder of the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery. He studied engraving in London and early began to amass his...

(Encyclopedia) style, in printing, arbitrary rule or collection of rules governing the practice of a printer or a publisher in doubtful or disputed matters to obtain consistency. Correct spelling is a matter of lite...

(Encyclopedia) Back, Sir George, 1796–1878, British explorer in N Canada. He accompanied Sir John Franklin on arctic expeditions in 1818, 1819–22, and 1824–27. On an expedition (1833–35) to search for the mi...

(Encyclopedia) Fort George G. Meade, U.S. army post, 13,500 acres (5,460 hectares), central Md., between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; est. 1917 as a World War I induction center. ...