Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Akbar

(Encyclopedia)Akbar ăkˈbär [key], 1542–1605, Mughal emperor of India (1556–1605); son of Humayun, grandson of Babur. He succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, who rendered loyal service in expa...

Alexander the Great

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Empire of Alexander the Great (including dependencies) Alexander the Great or Alexander III, 356–323 b.c., king of Macedon, conqueror of much of Asia. Whether or not Alexander had plans fo...

World Trade Center

(Encyclopedia)World Trade Center, former building complex in lower Manhattan, New York City, consisting of seven buildings and a shopping concourse on a 16-acre (6.5-hectare) site; it was destroyed by a terrorist a...

Islamic State

(Encyclopedia)Islamic State (IS), Sunni Islamic militant group committed to the establishment of an Islamic caliphate that would unite Muslims in a transnational, strict-fundamentalist Islamic state. IS has been ma...

poliomyelitis

(Encyclopedia)poliomyelitis pōˌlēōmīˌəlīˈtĭs [key], polio, or infantile paralysis, acute viral infection, mainly of children but also affecting older persons. Historically, there were three immunologic ty...

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1818–93, American politician and Union general in the Civil War

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1818–93, American politician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Deerfield, N.H. He moved to Lowell, Mass., as a youth and later practiced law there and in Boston. He w...

Parthia

(Encyclopedia)Parthia pärˈthēə [key], ancient country of Asia, SE of the Caspian Sea. In its narrowest limits it consisted of a mountainous region intersected with fertile valleys, lying S of Hyrcania and corre...

Silk Road

(Encyclopedia)Silk Road, ancient overland trade route linking Asia and Europe, consisting of a network of caravan routes running from China across central Asia to the shores of the Mediterranean. Its starting point...

strategy and tactics

(Encyclopedia)strategy and tactics, in warfare, related terms referring, respectively, to large-scale and small-scale planning to achieve military success. Strategy may be defined as the general scheme of the condu...

Guantánamo

(Encyclopedia)Guantánamo gwäntäˈnämō [key], city (1994 est. pop. 200,000), capital of Guantánamo prov., SE Cuba, on the Guaso River. It is the processing center for a rich sugar- and coffee-producing region ...