Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kunlun ko͝onˈlo͝onˈ [key], great mountain system of central Asia, between the Himalayas and the Tian Shan, extending c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) E from the Pamir Mts., along the Tibet-Xinjiang border in...

(Encyclopedia) Oligocene epoch ŏlˈəgōsēnˌ [key], third epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time, lasting from 38 to 24 million years ago. More of North America was dry land during the ...

(Encyclopedia) Childers, Robert Erskine chĭlˈdərz [key], 1870–1922, Irish politician and author. Born into a Protestant family, he was a clerk in the House of Commons (1895–1910). Gradually becoming convinced...

(Encyclopedia) Friendly, Fred W., 1915–98, American broadcaster and author, b. New York City as Ferdinand Friendly Wachenheimer. He began his career at age 22 at a radio station in Providence where he wrote, produ...

(Encyclopedia) thorium thôrˈēəm [key] [from Thor], radioactive chemical element; symbol Th; at. no. 90; mass number of most stable isotope 232; m.p. about 1,750℃; b.p. about 4,790℃; sp. gr. 11.7 at 20℃; va...

(Encyclopedia)  Adelson, Sheldon Gary, 1933-2021, American casino owner and political donor, b. Boston, MA. Adelson was born to poor, Jewish, Eastern European immigrants. After attending, but not comple...

(Encyclopedia) Chuvash Republic cho͞oväshˈ [key] or Chuvashia, constituent republic, 7,066 sq mi (18,301 ...

(Encyclopedia) Safdie, Moshe mōshāˈ säfˈdē [key], 1938–, Israeli-Canadian architect, b. Haifa. He grew up in Israel, moved to Canada with his family at 15, studied architecture at McGill Univ. and with Louis...

(Encyclopedia) zinc oxide, chemical compound, ZnO, that is nearly insoluble in water but soluble in acids or alkalies. It occurs as white hexagonal crystals or a white powder commonly known as zinc white. Zinc white...

(Encyclopedia) Death Valley, SE Calif. and SW Nev., a deep, arid basin, 140 mi (225 km) long, bordered on the W by the Panamint Range and on the E by the Amargosa Range. In summer the valley has recorded some of the...