Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Hampton Roads, roadstead, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 40 ft (12.2 m) deep, SE Va., through which the waters of the James, Nansemond, and Elizabeth rivers pass into Chesapeake Bay. One of the finest natural...

(Encyclopedia) Stoneman, George, 1822–94, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Busti, N.Y. As commander of Fort Brown, Tex., in Feb., 1861, he refused to obey the order of General Twiggs to surrender to Tex...

(Encyclopedia) tomahawk [from an Algonquian dialect of Virginia], hatchet generally used by Native North Americans as a hand weapon and as a missile. The earliest tomahawks were made of stone, with one edge or two e...

(Encyclopedia) Erving, Julius ûrˈvĭng [key], 1950–, American basketball player, b. Roosevelt, N.J., known as “Dr. J.” An excellent shooter, rebounder, and ball-handler, he played for the American Basketball...

(Encyclopedia) Gordon, John Brown, 1832–1904, U.S. public official and Confederate general, b. Upson co., Ga. Gordon began his Civil War service as an infantry captain and so distinguished himself through four yea...

(Encyclopedia) Storm King, mountain, 1,355 ft (413 m) high, SE N.Y., on the west shore of the Hudson River near West Point. It is included in the Palisades Interstate Parks. ...

(Encyclopedia) turnpike, road paid for partly or wholly by fees collected from travelers at tollgates. It derives its name from the hinged bar that prevented passage through such a gate until the toll was paid. See ...

(Encyclopedia) Ward, Barbara Mary, Baroness Jackson of Lodsworth, 1914–81, British writer. Educated at the Sorbonne and at Oxford, she joined the staff of the Economist in 1939 and became foreign editor in 1940. F...

(Encyclopedia) Cullum, George Washington kŭlˈəm [key], 1809–92, American army officer, b. New York City, grad. West Point, 1833. In the Civil War, Cullum was made a brigadier general of volunteers (Nov., 1861) ...

(Encyclopedia) Louisville lo͞oˈēvĭl [key], city (1990 pop. 269,063), seat of Jefferson co., NW Ky., at the Falls of the Ohio; inc. 1780. It is the largest city in Kentucky, a port of entry, and an important indu...