Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Burns, Otway, c.1775–1850, American privateer, b. Onslow co., N.C. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he outfitted the Baltimore clipper Snap-Dragon as a privateer and began one of the most spectac...

(Encyclopedia) North Rhine–Westphalia nôrtˈrīn-vĕstˌfäˈlən [key], state (1994 pop. 17,759,000), 13,111 sq mi (33,957 sq km), W central Germany. Düsseldorf is the capital. The state is bounded by Belgium a...

(Encyclopedia) Florida State University, at Tallahassee; coeducational; chartered 1851, opened 1857. Present name was adopted in 1947. Special research facilities include those in nuclear science and oceanography. ...

(Encyclopedia) Cotton Belt, former agricultural region of the SE United States where cotton was the main cash crop throughout the 19th and much of the 20th cent. Located on the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains and o...

(Encyclopedia) McGill University, at Montreal, Que., Canada; coeducational; chartered 1821, opened 1829. It was named for James McGill, who left a bequest to establish it. Its real development dates from 1855 when J...

(Encyclopedia) Brown University, Providence, R.I.; coeducational chartered 1764 as Rhode Island College at Warren, opened 1765. It moved to Providence in 1770 and was renamed for Nicholas Brown in 1804. Pembroke Col...

(Encyclopedia) King, William Rufus Devane, 1786–1853, U.S. Senator from Alabama (1819–44, 1848–52), b. Sampson co., N.C. A Democratic Congressman from North Carolina (1811–16), he settled (1818) in Alabama a...

(Encyclopedia) Great Dismal Swamp, SE Va. and NE N.C. With dense forests and tangled undergrowth, the wetlands are a favorite site for sportsmen and naturalists. It once may have covered nearly 2,200 sq mi (5,700 sq...

(Encyclopedia) North Miami, city (1990 pop. 49,998), Dade co., SE Fla., a growing suburb of Miami, on Biscayne Bay; inc. 1926. It is mainly residential, but has considerable retail development. Manufactures include ...

(Encyclopedia) North Highlands, uninc. town (1990 pop. 42,105), Sacramento co., N central Calif., a residential suburb of Sacramento, in the Sacramento valley. The town grew dramatically in the latter 20th cent. Cit...