Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Carboniferous period kärbənĭfˈərəs [key], fifth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from 350 to 290 million years ago. The pl...

(Encyclopedia) stele stēˈlē [key], slab of stone or terra-cotta, usually oblong, set up in a vertical position, for votive or memorial purposes. Upon the slabs were carved inscriptions accompanied by ornamental d...

(Encyclopedia) Gosford, Archibald Acheson, 2d earl of gŏzˈfərd [key], 1776–1849, governor in chief of British North America (1835–37). He served in the British House of Commons and, after succeeding (1807) to...

(Encyclopedia) Cooke, Alistair, 1908–2004, Anglo-American journalist, b. Salford, England, as Alfred Cooke; grad. Cambridge, 1930, where he officially adopted the name Alistair. Cooke became famous in Britain for ...

(Encyclopedia) Prince of Wales, Cape, at the tip of the Seward Peninsula, NW Alaska, on the Bering Strait; westernmost point of North America. Cape Dezhnev, Siberia, is only 55 mi (89 km) to the west. ...

(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) Carter Family, group of singers that specialized in traditional music of the Southern Appalachian Mountains; it consisted of A(lvin) P(leasant) Carter, 1891–1960, b. Maces Spring, Va.; his wife, Sar...

(Encyclopedia) Duke University, at Durham, N. C.; coeducational; opened 1838, chartered 1841 as Union Institute in Randolph County. Reorganized 1852 as Normal College, it became Trinity College (Methodist) in 1859 a...

(Encyclopedia) Gallegos, Rómulo rōˈmo͞olō gäyāˈgōs [key], 1884–1969, Venezuelan novelist and statesman. Gallegos lived in Spain in voluntary exile from the Venezuelan dictatorship from 1931 until 1935. He...

(Encyclopedia) Institutional Revolutionary party, Span. Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI), Mexican political party. Established in 1929 as the National Revolutionary party by former President Plutarco Calle...