Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Virginia City, uninc. village (1990 pop. 920), seat of Storey co., W Nev.; settled 1859. Now largely a tourist center, it was the site of the Comstock Lode and a major hub for the mining of silver and...

(Encyclopedia) Trans-Canada Highway, c.4,800 mi (7,700 km) long, S Canada; dedicated 1962; completed 1970. The world's longest national highway, it traverses North America from St. John's, N.L., to Victoria, British...

(Encyclopedia) Ulúa o͞olo͞oˈä [key], river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rising in the Cordillera de Opalaca, W Honduras, and flowing north to the Caribbean Sea. The Ulúa, with its tributaries, drains almost the en...

(Encyclopedia) Gates, John Warne, 1855–1911, American financier and promoter, known as Bet-a-Million Gates, b. near Chicago. He discovered a market for wire fencing on the Western plains, began the manufacture of ...

(Encyclopedia) Gersoppa, Falls of gərsŏpˈə [key], cataract of the Sharavati River, Karnataka state, SW India. It is one of the most spectacular natural beauties of India. The river cuts through the Western Ghats...

(Encyclopedia) evening star or morning star, planet that becomes visible in the western sky shortly after sunset or in the eastern sky shortly before sunrise. It can usually be seen in twilight, when it is too light...

(Encyclopedia) Frémont, John Charles, 1813–90, American explorer, soldier, and political leader, b. Savannah, Ga. He taught mathematics to U.S. naval cadets, then became an assistant on a surveying expedition (18...

(Encyclopedia) Longford, county (1991 pop. 30,296), 403 sq mi (1,044 sq km), N central Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Longford. A part of the central plain of Ireland, it has level land with numerous small ...

(Encyclopedia) menhir mĕnˈhērˌ [key] [Breton,=long stone], in archaeology, name given to the single standing stones of Western Europe, and by extension to those of other lands. Their size varies and their shape ...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-American Health Organization, inter-American health organization. It was established in 1902 as the International Sanitary Bureau; the present name was adopted in 1958. Its members include all the...