Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 A. Cross section of a hair shaft B. General structure of a hair hair, slender threadlike outgrowth from the skin of mammals. In some animals hair grows in dense profusion and is called fur or ...

(Encyclopedia) mass transit, public transportation systems designed to move large numbers of passengers. The history of mass transportation is intimately connected to industrialization, urbanization, and the sepa...

(Encyclopedia) Bridget, Saint, 453?–523?, Irish holy woman. She is often called St. Brigid, St. Bride, or St. Bridget of Kildare. Little is known of her, but she did found a great monastery at Kildare. She is buri...

(Encyclopedia) Ea ĕngˈkē [key], ancient water god of Sumerian origin, worshiped in Babylonian religion. The great benefactor of mankind, Ea was called the lord of wisdom, of magic, and of the arts and sciences. W...

(Encyclopedia) Alpena ălpēˈnə [key], city, seat of Alpena co., N Mich., on Thunder Bay, an arm of Lake Huron; inc. 1871. Limestone quarried nearby is used to make cement, Alpena's ch...

(Encyclopedia) Bowers, Eilley, c.1827–1903, American frontier figure, b. Eilley Orrum in Scotland. She became a Mormon and moved (1855) to Nevada with her second husband. He returned (1857) to Salt Lake City, but ...

(Encyclopedia) Chesapeake chĕsˈəpēkˌ [key], city (2020 pop. 249,422), formed independently by the merging of ...

(Encyclopedia) Gibson, Paris, 1830–1920, American pioneer and politician, b. Brownfield, Maine. After serving in the Maine legislature he moved to Minneapolis, where he built the first flour mill and started woole...

(Encyclopedia) Lusaka lo͞osäˈkə [key], city (1990 est. pop. 982,400), alt. 4,200 ft (1,280 m), capital of Zambia, S central Zambia. A sprawling city located in a productive farm area, Lusaka is an administrative...

(Encyclopedia) Hill, James Jerome, 1838–1916, American railroad builder, b. Ontario, Canada. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1856. He became a partner of Norman Kittson in a steamboat line and, with Kittson, Donald...