Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Milk, Harvey, 1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in th...

(Encyclopedia) Novato nōväˈtō [key], residential city (1990 pop. 47,585), Marin co., W Calif., N of San Fransisco on San Pablo Bay; inc. 1960. In a farming and dairying area, it produces cosmetics, metal product...

(Encyclopedia) Coolidge Dam, 249 ft (76 m) high, 920 ft (280 m) long, on the Gila River, SE Ariz.; built 1927–28. It irrigates c.100,000 acres (40,470 hectares), half of which are Native American lands in San Carl...

(Encyclopedia) Burlingame, city (2020 pop. 31,386), San Mateo co., W Calif., on San Francisco Bay; founded 1868, inc. 1908. Burlingame is mainly residential, with ligh...

(Encyclopedia) Shemer shēˈmər [key], in the Bible. 1 Owner and eponym of the hill of Samaria. 2 Founder of a clan in the tribe of Asher. Alternate forms are Shamer and Shomer. ...

(Encyclopedia) butte, an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top, resulting from the more rapid erosion of the surrounding areas. Buttes are characteristic of the plains of the W United States. See mesa. ...

(Encyclopedia) Carleton, Will, 1845–1912, American poet, b. Hudson, Mich. He is best known for his sentimental poems of rural life, the most famous being “Over the Hill to the Poorhouse.” Among his works are F...

(Encyclopedia) North Carolina, University of, main campus at Chapel Hill; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1789, opened 1795, the first state college to open as a university. In 1931 the North Carolina Stat...

(Encyclopedia) Baker, George Fisher, 1840–1931, American financier and philanthropist, b. Troy, N.Y. Baker was one of the founders of the First National Bank of New York in 1863 and became (1877) its president and...

(Encyclopedia) Lackland Air Force Base lăkˈlənd [key], U.S. military installation, c.6,835 acres (2,766 hectares), S Tex., W of San Antonio; est. 1941, amalgated 2010 with Fort Sam Houston and Randolph Air Force ...