Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Dewey, George do͞oˈē, dyo͞oˈ– [key], 1837–1917, American admiral, hero of the battle of Manila, b. Montpelier, Vt., grad. Annapolis, 1858. He saw active duty in the Civil War and rose in the ...

(Encyclopedia) diphtheria dĭfthērˈēə [key], acute contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae (Klebs-Loffler bacillus) bacteria that have been infected by a bacteriophage. It begins as a soreness o...

(Encyclopedia) confession, in law, the formal admission of criminal guilt, usually obtained in the course of examination by the police or prosecutor or at trial. For a confession to be admissible as evidence against...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Bone bone, hard tissue that forms the skeleton of the body in vertebrate animals. In the very young, the skeleton is composed largely of cartilage and is therefore pliable, reducing the incide...

(Encyclopedia) antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antio...

(Encyclopedia) copernicium, artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Cn; at. no. 112; mass number of most stable isotope 285; m.p., b.p., sp. gr., and valence unknown. Situated in Group 12 of the p...

(Encyclopedia) Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron ămˈərst [key], 1717–97, British army officer. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and in the early part of the Seven Years War. In 1758 he was sent to ...

(Encyclopedia) Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820–57, American physician and arctic explorer, b. Philadelphia. Seeking adventure after medical school, Kane entered naval service and before he was 30 had seen many parts of th...

(Encyclopedia) Southampton, Henry Wriothesley, 3d earl of rŏtˈslē [key], 1573–1624, English nobleman and patron of letters. He succeeded to his title in 1581, was educated at Cambridge, and gained favor at the ...