Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) N. Scott Momaday (Navarre Scott Momaday), 1934–2024, American writer whose works are reflective of his Kiowa culture, b. Lawton, Okla., B.A. Univ. of ...

(Encyclopedia) Cape Breton Island, island, 3,970 sq mi (10,282 sq km), forming the northeastern part of N.S., Canada, and separated from the mainland by the narrow Gut...

(Encyclopedia) World Health Organization (WHO), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, with its headquarters at Geneva. WHO admits all sovereign states (including those not belonging to the U...

(Encyclopedia) Ghirlandaio or Ghirlandajo, Domenico both: dōmĕˈnēkō gērländäˈyō [key], 1449–94, Florentine painter, whose family name was Bigordi. He may have studied painting and mosaics under Alesso Ba...

(Encyclopedia) americium ămərĭˈshēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Am; at. no. 95; mass no. of most stable isotope 243; m.p. about 1,175℃; b.p. about 2,600℃; sp. gr. 13....

(Encyclopedia) Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848–1909, American railroad executive, b. Hempstead, N.Y.; father of William Averell Harriman. He became a stockbroker in New York City and soon entered the railroad field, ...

(Encyclopedia) beat generation, term applied to certain American artists and writers who were popular during the 1950s. Essentially anarchic, members of the beat generation rejected traditional social and artistic f...

(Encyclopedia) Gates, Horatio, c.1727–1806, American Revolutionary general, b. Maldon, Essex, England. Entering the British army at an early age, he fought in America in the French and Indian War and served in the...

(Encyclopedia) Winthrop, John, 1588–1649, governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, b. Edwardstone, near Groton, Suffolk, England. Of a landowning family, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, came into a fami...

(Encyclopedia) Great Salt Lake, shallow body of saltwater, NW Utah, between the Wasatch Range on the east and the Great Salt Lake Desert on the west; largest salt lake in North America. Fed by the Weber, Jordan, and...