Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lea, Henry Charles lē [key], 1825–1909, U.S. historian, b. Philadelphia. He was associated with the family publishing business for many years, but his real interest was in historical work. Working ...

(Encyclopedia) Royal Greenwich Observatory, astronomical observatory established in 1675 by Charles II of England at Greenwich and known as the Royal Observatory. It moved during 1948–57 to Herstmonceux Castle, Su...

(Encyclopedia) Mahdi, Sadiq al-, 1936–2020, Sudanese political and religious leader. A descendent of Muhammad Ahmad (see Mahdi), Mahdi succeeded (1964) to the leadership of the Ansar, the Sufi order (see Sufism) f...

(Encyclopedia) Liard lēˈärdˌ [key], river, 755 mi (1,215 km) long, rising in the Pelly Mts., SE Yukon, Canada, and flowing SE into N British Columbia, passing through the main range of the Rocky Mts., thence nor...

(Encyclopedia) Maclise, Daniel məklēsˈ [key], 1811–70, British painter and illustrator, b. Ireland. His character sketches contributed (1830–38) to Fraser's Magazine under the pseudonym Alfred Croquis were la...

(Encyclopedia) ship of the line, large, square-rigged warship, carrying from 70 to 140 guns on two or more completely armed gun decks. In the great naval wars of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th cent., ships of the li...

(Encyclopedia) Hsia Kuei shyä gwā [key], c.1180–1230, Chinese painter of the Sung dynasty. Little is known of his life. He and his contemporary Ma Yüan were regarded as the greatest landscape painters of the da...

(Encyclopedia) Winnipeg, Lake, third largest lake of Canada, 9,465 sq mi (24,514 sq km), 264 mi (425 km) long and from 25 to 68 mi (40–109 km) wide, S central Man., Canada, N of Winnipeg. It is a remnant of glacia...

(Encyclopedia) Radisson, Pierre Esprit pyĕr ĕsprēˈ rädēsôNˈ [key], c.1632–1710, French explorer and fur trader in North America. He arrived in Canada in 1651. His journals, first published as the Voyages o...

(Encyclopedia) Manchester. 1 Town (1990 pop. 51,618), Hartford co., central Conn.; settled c.1672, inc. 1823. Its sawmills and paper mills date from before the Revolutionary War. The city was also known for its prod...