Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e...

(Encyclopedia) Galápagos Islands gəlăpˈəgōs [key] [Span.,=tortoises], archipelago and province, 3,029 sq mi ...

(Encyclopedia) Chelmsford, Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 3d Baron and 1st Viscount nāˈpēər, thĕsˈĭjər, chĕlmsˈfərd [key], 1868–1933, British colonial administrator. After serving as governor of Queensl...

(Encyclopedia) Suzman, Helen, 1917–2009, South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, b. Helen Gavronsky, grad. Univ. of Witwatersrand (1940). The daughter of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants, she taught at h...

(Encyclopedia) Cooper, Alfred Duff, 1st Viscount Norwich of Aldwick ko͞oˈpər, ko͝opˈər [key], 1890–1954, British statesman and diplomat. Elected to Parliament as a Conservative (Unionist) in 1924, he served ...

(Encyclopedia) Clark, George Rogers, 1752–1818, American Revolutionary general, conqueror of the Old Northwest, b. near Charlottesville, Va.; brother of William Clark. A surveyor, he was interested in Western land...

(Encyclopedia) Portsmouth, city and unitary authority (2011 pop. 205,056), S England, on Spithead Channel. The city includes Portsea (naval station), Southsea (residential district and resort), and the old town of P...

(Encyclopedia) Crawford, William Harris, 1772–1834, American statesman, b. Amherst co., Va. (his birthplace is now in Nelson co.). He moved with his parents to South Carolina and later to Georgia. After studying l...

(Encyclopedia) Prince, 1958–2016, American singer and songwriter, b. Minneapolis, Minn., as Prince Rogers Nelson. Biracial, slim, and sexily androgynous, he was an electrifying performer who composed hundreds of s...

(Encyclopedia) St. John, Henry, Viscount Bolingbroke sĭn jŭn, bŏlˈĭngbro͝ok [key], 1678–1751, English statesman. He retired from politics in 1735 and spent most his remaining years on his estates in France...