Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

chamber of commerce

(Encyclopedia)chamber of commerce, local association of business people organized to promote the welfare of their community, especially its commercial interests. Each chamber of commerce usually has an elected boar...

Dunning, William Archibald

(Encyclopedia)Dunning, William Archibald, 1857–1922, American historian, b. Plainfield, N.J., grad. Columbia (B.A., 1881; Ph. D., 1885). After studying in Berlin, he returned (1886) to spend a lifetime at Columbi...

Toledo , city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Toledo təlēˈdō [key], city (1990 pop. 332,943), seat of Lucas co., NW Ohio, on the Maumee River at its junction with Lake Erie; inc. 1837. With a natural harbor and its railroads and highways, Tol...

Venezuela Boundary Dispute

(Encyclopedia)Venezuela Boundary Dispute, diplomatic controversy, notable for the tension caused between Great Britain and the United States during much of the 19th cent. Of long standing, the dispute concerned the...

Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de

(Encyclopedia)Escalante, Silvestre Vélez de sēlvāˈstrā vāˈlāth dā āskälänˈtā [key], fl. 1769–79, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest and Far West, a Franciscan missionary. He was in charge of...

Bethlehem, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Bethlehem, city (2020 pop. 75,781), Northampton and Lehigh counties, E Pa., on the Lehigh R. near Allentown and Easton; inc. as a city 1917. Local manuf...

genealogy

(Encyclopedia)genealogy jēˌnēŏlˈəjē, –ălˈ–, jĕ– [key], the study of family lineage. Genealogies have existed since ancient times. Family lineage was originally transmitted through oral tradition and...

Saginaw, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Saginaw săgˈĭnô [key], city (1990 pop. 69,512), seat of Saginaw co., S Mich., on the Saginaw River, 15 mi (24 km) from its mouth on Saginaw Bay (an inlet of Lake Huron); settled 1816, inc. 1857. S...

Pontiac, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Pontiac, industrial city (1990 pop. 71,166), seat of Oakland co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; founded 1818 by promoters from Detroit, inc. as a city 1861. Industries developed early and expanded a...

Secret Service, United States

(Encyclopedia)Secret Service, United States, a law enforcement division (since 2003) of the Dept. of Homeland Security. It was established in 1865 in the the Dept. of the Treasury to investigate and prevent counter...
 

Browse by Subject