Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Orr, Bobby (Robert Orr), 1948–, Canadian hockey player. He began skating at the age of 4 and was discovered by the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League at age 12. He began playing with the Br...

(Encyclopedia) atomism, philosophic concept of the nature of the universe, holding that the universe is composed of invisible, indestructible material particles. The theory was first advanced in the 5th cent. b.c. b...

(Encyclopedia) Bridgwater, town, Somerset, SW England, on the Parrett River estuary. It is a port for seaborne traffic and a market town. Bridgwater is the only place ...

(Encyclopedia) Colonial Heights, city (2020 pop. 18,170), in, but independent of, Chesterfield co., SE Va.; inc. as a city 1948. Chemicals, metal products, and whiskey...

(Encyclopedia) Stratford, home of the Lee family, overlooking the Potomac River, E Va., SE of Fredericksburg. A national shrine dedicated in 1935, the site was purchased in 1716 by Thomas Lee, who built the mansion ...

(Encyclopedia) Ware, Isaac, d. 1766, English architect of the Georgian period. After travels in Italy he was employed in 1729 as clerk of the works at Windsor Castle. For Philip, earl of Chesterfield, he built (1749...

(Encyclopedia) Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

(Encyclopedia) Plassey plăsˈē [key], anglicized name of Palashi, village, West Bengal state, NE India. In the battle of Plassey, Robert Clive decisively defeated (1757) the Nawab of Bengal, preparing the way for ...

(Encyclopedia) Edgar Atheling ăthˈəlĭng [key] [O.E. ætheling,=son of the king], 1060?–1125?, English prince, grandson of Edmund Ironside. After the death of King Harold at the battle of Hastings in 1066, Edga...

(Encyclopedia) Arran ârˈən [key], island (1981 pop. 4,725), 165 sq mi (427 sq km), North Ayshire, W Scotland, in the Firth of Clyde. It is largely granitic and is wild and rocky; it rises to 2,866 ft (874 m). Its...