Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) onager ŏnˈəjər [key] or Persian wild ass, wild ass of central Asia, Equus hemonius onager. Formerly classified as a separate species, it is one of the several subspecies of Asian wild ass (E. hemo...

(Encyclopedia) Macedon măsˈədŏn [key], ancient country, roughly equivalent to the modern region of Macedonia. In the history of Greek culture Macedon had its single significance in producing the conquerors and a...

(Encyclopedia) pearl, hard, rounded secretion formed inside the shell of certain mollusks, used as a gem. It is secreted by the epithelial cells of the mantle, a curtain of tissue between the shell and body mass, an...

(Encyclopedia) Powell, Colin Luther, 1937–2021, U.S. army general and government official, b. New York City, grad., City College (B.S., 1958); George Washington Univ...

(Encyclopedia) poison gas, any of various gases sometimes used in warfare or riot control because of their poisonous or corrosive nature. These gases may be roughly grouped according to the portal of entry into the ...

(Encyclopedia) Florida, Straits of, passage, c.90 mi (145 km) wide, between the Florida Keys in the north and Cuba in the south. It connects the Gulf of Mexico with the Atlantic Ocean. ...

(Encyclopedia) Whyalla, city (1991 pop. 21,828), South Australia state, S Australia, on Spencer Gulf. The city has shipbuilding and iron and steel industries. Iron ore and iron and steel products are exported. ...

(Encyclopedia) Lucania lo͞okāˈnēə [key], ancient region of S Italy. It was bounded on the east by the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto) and by Apulia, on the north by Samnium and Campania, on the west by the Tyrrh...

(Encyclopedia) Fort Myers, city (2020 pop. 86,395), seat of Lee co., SW Fla., on the Caloosahatchee River, near the Gulf of Mexico; founded 1850, inc. 1905. It has a t...

(Encyclopedia) Indo-Iranian, subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, spoken by more than a billion people, chiefly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (see The Indo-Eu...