Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) ilmenite ĭlˈmĕnīt [key], black mineral, iron titanium oxide, FeTiO3, crystallizing in the hexagonal system. It is sometimes found as tabular hexagonal crystals but occurs more commonly as small gr...

(Encyclopedia) Underwood, Oscar Wilder, 1862–1929, American political leader, U.S. Senator from Alabama (1915–27), b. Louisville, Ky. A lawyer in Birmingham, Ala., he became important in Democratic party politic...

(Encyclopedia) Fort McMurray, former city, now part of the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo, NE Alta., Canada. Originally a fur-trading post on the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers, Fort McMurray was a town of 1...

(Encyclopedia) champagne shămpānˈ [key], sparkling white wine made from grapes grown in the old French province of Champagne. The best champagne is from that part of the Marne valley whose apex is Reims, the cent...

(Encyclopedia) Klein, Ralph Phillip, 1942–2013, Canadian politician, b. Calgary. He served in the Canadian air force and worked in public relations and as a weathercaster and reporter in radio and television befor...

(Encyclopedia) Wood Buffalo, regional municipality (2011 pop. 65,565), 24,571 sq mi (63,637 sq km), NE Alta., Canada, inc. 1995. Formed by Fort McMurray's amalgamation with Improvement District No. 143, Wood Buffalo...

(Encyclopedia) beach grass or marram grass mârˈəm [key], any species of the genus Ammophila, perennial grasses used to control the shifting of sand dunes, thereby protecting sandy coastal areas. The European beac...

(Encyclopedia) von Braun, Wernher vôn broun [key], 1912–77, German-American rocket scientist and astronautics engineer, b. Germany, grad. Berlin Technological Institute (B.S., 1932), Univ. of Berlin (Ph.D., 1934)...

(Encyclopedia) X-ray astronomy, study of celestial objects by means of the X rays they emit, in the wavelength range from 0.01 to 10 nanometers. X-ray astronomy dates to 1949 with the discovery that the sun emits X ...

(Encyclopedia) Midas mīˈdəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Phrygia. Because he befriended Silenus, the oldest of the satyrs, Dionysus granted him the power to turn everything into gold by touch. But when even...