Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Blennerhassett, Harman blĕnˈərhăsˌət [key], 1765–1831, Anglo-Irish pioneer in America, an associate of Aaron Burr. Wealthy and gifted, he fell in love with and married his beautiful niece, Mar...

(Encyclopedia) Marine Corps, United States, military corps that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Navy. The commandant of the Marine Corps is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During conflic...

(Encyclopedia) Treasury, United States Department of the, federal executive department established in 1789. It is charged with advising the president on fiscal policy and acting as fiscal agent for the federal gover...

(Encyclopedia) Cotton Belt, former agricultural region of the SE United States where cotton was the main cash crop throughout the 19th and much of the 20th cent. Located on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and o...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Wyoming wīōˈmĭng [key], least populous state in the United States, one of the Rocky Mt. states of the West. It is bordered by South Dakota and Nebraska (E), Colorado and Utah (S), Idaho (W)...

(Encyclopedia) Mound Builders, in North American archaeology, name given to those people who built mounds in a large area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Mississippi River to the Appalachian ...

(Encyclopedia) United States Merchant Marine Academy, at Kings Point, N.Y.; for the training of merchant marine officers; established 1936, opened 1943. The academy became coeducational in 1974. Candidates must be b...

(Encyclopedia) Transportation, United States Department of, executive department of the U.S. government, established by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. Its chief executive officer, the secretary, is a ...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Kansas kănˈzəs [key], midwestern state occupying the center of the coterminous United States. It is bordered by Missouri (E), Oklahoma (S), Colorado (W), and Nebraska (N). Kansas has b...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Indiana, midwestern state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Lake Michigan and the state of Michigan (N), Ohio (E), Kentucky, across the Ohio River (S), and Illinois (W). Indu...