Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Vista vĭsˈtə [key], uninc. city (1990 pop. 71,872), San Diego co., SW Calif., near the Pacific coast, in an agricultural and resort area; inc. 1963. Its manufactures include metal and plastic produ...

(Encyclopedia) Charles XI, 1655–97, king of Sweden (1660–97), son and successor of Charles X. Charles ascended the throne at the age of five, so a council of regency ruled until 1672. The regency ended Swedish w...

(Encyclopedia) Pérez, Juan hwän pāˈrāth [key], d. 1774, Spanish colonial naval officer, explorer on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. In 1774 he commanded a fleet sent by the Spanish viceroy to investigate Ru...

(Encyclopedia) Fages, Pedro pāˈᵺrō fäˈhās [key], fl. 1767–96, Spanish governor of Alta California (1782–91). In Mexico in 1767, he was ordered to accompany the expedition of Gaspar de Portolá, which est...

(Encyclopedia) Frederick IV, 1671–1730, king of Denmark and Norway (1699–1730), son and successor of Christian V. He allied himself (1699) with Augustus II of Poland and Saxony and with Peter I of Russia against...

(Encyclopedia) Fath Ali Shah fäth älēˈ shäˈ, fät [key], also spelled Feth Ali Shah, 1762–1834, shah of Persia (1797–1834), nephew and successor of Aga Muhammad Khan, founder of the Qajar dynasty. Most of ...

(Encyclopedia) Central Valley, great trough of central Calif., c.450 mi (720 km) long and c.50 mi (80 km) wide, between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges. The Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers drain much of the...

(Encyclopedia) Crespi, Juan krāsˈpē [key], 1721–82, Spanish explorer in the Southwest, a Franciscan. He came to America in 1749, and in 1767 he went to the peninsula of California in charge of Mission Purísim...

(Encyclopedia) Alamo, the ălˈəmōˌ [key] [Span.,=cottonwood], building in San Antonio, Tex., “the cradle of Texas liberty.” Built as a chapel after 1744, it is all that remains of the mission of San Antonio ...

(Encyclopedia) Bute, John Stuart, 3d earl of byo͞ot [key], 1713–92, British politician. He was prominent as a friend of Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, as early as 1747 and became the tutor of Frederick's impre...