Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) de La Renta, Oscar (Óscar Arístides de la Renta Fiallo) də lə räNˈtə, rĕnˈtə [key], 1932–2014, Dominican-American fashion designer, b. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He studied in Madr...

(Encyclopedia) Oribe, Manuel mänwĕlˈ ōrēˈbā [key], d. 1857, president of Uruguay (1834–38). After serving with José Gervasio Artigas, he became one of the Thirty-three Immortals who raised the standard of ...

(Encyclopedia) Hostos, Eugenio María de āo͞ohāˈnyō märēˈä dā ōˈstōs [key], 1839–1903, Latin American philosopher, sociologist, writer, and political and educational reformer, b. Puerto Rico, educated...

(Encyclopedia) Nicaragua Canal, proposed waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. One often considered route would be 172.8 mi (278 km) long and would generally follow the San Juan River, then go throug...

(Encyclopedia) Vancouver Island (1991 pop. 579,921), 12,408 sq mi (32,137 sq km), SW British Columbia, Canada, in the Pacific Ocean; largest island off W North America. It is c.285 mi (460 km) long and c.30 to 80 mi...

(Encyclopedia) Byron, John, 1723–86, British vice admiral and explorer. Sailing in 1740 with Admiral George Anson on a voyage around the world, he was shipwrecked off Chile. His Narrative of Great Distresses on th...

(Encyclopedia) Uncompahgre ŭnˌkəmpäˈgrē [key], river, c.75 mi (120 km) long, rising in the San Juan Mts., SW Colo., and flowing NW past Montrose to the Gunnison River at Delta. Its waters are used for irrigati...

(Encyclopedia) Fernández de Córdoba, Francisco fränthēsˈkō fārnänˈdāth dā kōrˈdōbä [key], d. 1518?, Spanish explorer in Mexico. Sailing from Cuba on a slave hunt, he discovered Yucatán in 1517. He di...

(Encyclopedia) Rogers, Woodes, 1679?–1732, British privateer and colonial administrator. A romantic figure, Rogers plundered (1708–9) Spanish commerce in the Pacific and rescued Alexander Selkirk from the Juan F...

(Encyclopedia) Toussaint Louverture or L'Ouverture, François Dominique fräNswäˈ dômēnēkˈ to͞osăNˈ lo͞ovĕrtürˈ [key], c.1744–1803, Haitian patriot and martyr. A self-educated slave freed shortly befo...