Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Willet, Marinus mərēˈnəs wĭlˈĭt [key], 1740–1830, American Revolutionary soldier, b. Jamaica, N.Y. In the French and Indian War he was (1758) a member of the expeditions against Fort Ticonder...

(Encyclopedia) St.-John's-wort, any species of the large and widespread herbaceous or shrubby genus Hypericum of the family Hypericaceae (St.-John's-wort family), usually found in moist, open places and often having...

(Encyclopedia) Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779–1813, American explorer, an army officer, b. Lamberton (now part of Trenton), N.J. He joined the army (c.1793) and was commissioned second lieutenant in 1799. In 1805 ...

(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Edmund, 1753–1813, American statesman, b. Williamsburg, Va.; nephew of Peyton Randolph. He studied law under his father, John Randolph, a Loyalist who went to England at the outbreak of th...

(Encyclopedia) Elizabeth, city (2020 pop. 137,298), seat of Union co., NE N.J., on Newark Bay; inc. 1855. It is a shipping and transportation hub, with some of the wor...

(Encyclopedia) Exodus ĕkˈsədəs [key], book of the Bible, 2d of the 5 books of the Law (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. The book continues the story of the ancestors of Israel in Egypt, n...

(Encyclopedia) Herrick, Robert, 1591–1674, English poet, generally considered the greatest of the Cavalier poets. Although he was born in London, he spent most of his childhood in Hampton. In 1607 he became appren...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 A regulation baseball field. Minimum distance to the outfield fence is 250 ft; professional baseball fields constructed since 1958 have been at least 325 ft deep along the foul lines and 400 ft...

(Encyclopedia) Bowles, Paul, 1910–99, American writer and composer, b. New York City. He studied in Paris with Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland and composed (1930s–40s) a number of modernist operas, ballets, son...

(Encyclopedia) Harun ar-Rashid häro͞on är-räshēdˈ [key] [Arab.,=Aaron the Upright], c.764–809, 5th and most famous Abbasid caliph (786–809). He succeeded his brother Musa al-Hadi, fourth caliph, a year aft...