Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone...

(Encyclopedia) Solovetski or Solovetsky Islands sələvyĕtˈskē [key], archipelago, c.150 sq mi (390 sq km), N European Russia, in the White Sea at the entrance of Onega Bay. A monastery, built in the first half o...

(Encyclopedia) acta ăkˈtə [key], official texts of ancient Rome, written or carved on stone or metal. Usually acta were texts made public, although publication was sometimes restricted. Acta were first posted or ...

(Encyclopedia) Bedford. 1 City (2020 pop. 13,068), seat of Lawrence co., S Ind.; inc. 1889. Bedford limestone, quarried there and shipped all over the world, was ...

(Encyclopedia) turquoise, hydrous phosphate of aluminum and copper, Al2(OH)3PO4·H2O+Cu, used as a gem. It occurs rarely in crystal form, but is usually cryptocrystalline. Turquoise is opaque and has a waxy luster; ...

(Encyclopedia) Bangor băngˈgôr, bănˈ–, băngˈgər [key], city (2020 pop. 31,753), seat of Pe...

(Encyclopedia) rood ro͞od [key], crucifix mounted above the entrance to the chancel and flanked by large figures of the Virgin and St. John, an almost invariable feature in the 14th- and 15th-century European churc...

(Encyclopedia) tendril, slender, sensitive structure of many climbing plants that by a response to contact (see auxin) supports the plant. Tendrils are modified stems, leaves, or leaf parts or roots. Most young tend...

(Encyclopedia) Pollonarrua or Polonnaruwa both: pŏlˌənəro͞oˈə [key], ruined ancient city, NE Sri Lanka. Pollonarrua, beautifully situated on a lake, was once the most splendid city of Sri Lanka. It became a r...

(Encyclopedia) Rainbow Bridge National Monument, 160 acres (65 hectares), S Utah; est. 1910. Rainbow Bridge, the largest natural bridge in the world, is a symmetrical, pink, sandstone arch, 309 ft (94 m) high, 33 ft...