Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Breckinridge, John, 1760–1806, American statesman, b. Augusta co., Va; grandfather of John Cabell Breckinridge. After he was admitted (1785) to the bar, he practiced law in Charlottesville, Va. Elec...

(Encyclopedia) Clay, Clement Claiborne, 1816–82, U.S. Senator (1853–61), b. Huntsville, Ala. A legislator and then a judge in his native state, he was twice elected to the U.S. Senate and became an ardent defend...

(Encyclopedia) Cumberland Gap, natural passage through the Cumberland Mts., near the point where Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee meet. The gap was formed by the erosive action of a stream that once flowed there. I...

(Encyclopedia) Frankfort, city (2020 pop. 28,602), state capital and seat of Franklin co., N central Ky., on both sides of the Kentucky River, in the heart of the blue...

(Encyclopedia) Benacerraf, Baruj bäˈro͞okh bĕnăsˈərəf [key], 1920–2011, American immunologist, b. Caracas, Venezuela, grad. Columbia (B.S., 1942), Medical College of Virginia (M.D., 1945). Raised in Paris,...

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Martha, 1731–1802, wife of George Washington, b. New Kent co., Va. The daughter of John Dandridge and Frances Jones Dandridge, she first married (1749) Daniel Parke Custis. She bore him ...

(Encyclopedia) Ruffin, Edmund rŭfˈĭn [key], 1794–1865, American agriculturist, one of the Southern fire-eaters, b. Prince George co., Va. His interest in improving impoverished land led him to become a pioneer ...

(Encyclopedia) Barnard, Christiaan Neethling krĭsˈtēänˌ nāˈᵺĭng bärˈnərd [key], 1922–2001, South African surgeon. The son of a Dutch Reformed minister, Barnard studied medicine at the Univ. of Cape To...

(Encyclopedia) Gist, Christopher gĭst [key], c.1706–1759, American frontiersman, b. Maryland. Commissioned by the Ohio Company to explore their western lands. In 1750 he descended the Ohio River, explored E Kentu...

(Encyclopedia) ampelopsis ămˌpĭlŏpˈsəs [key] [Gr.,=looking like a vine], botanic name for woody ornamental vines of the genus Ampelopsis, but in horticulture also traditionally applied to the Virginia creeper,...