Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

divination

(Encyclopedia)divination, practice of foreseeing future events or obtaining secret knowledge through communication with divine sources and through omens, oracles, signs, and portents. It is based on the belief in r...

Christian Reformed Church

(Encyclopedia)Christian Reformed Church, denomination formed after the secession of a group from the Reformed Church in America in 1857. Colonists from Holland who began settling in Michigan in 1846 generally becam...

Palmer, Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Mpama, Josie 1903–1979, anti-apartheid activist. Mpama was a pioneer of women's rights in South Africa and a labor advocate. B...

astatine

(Encyclopedia)astatine ăsˈtətēn, –tĭn [key] [Gr.,=unstable], semimetallic radioactive chemical element; symbol At; at. no. 85; at. wt. of most stable isotope 210; m.p. 302℃ (estimated); b.p. 337℃ (estima...

Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de

(Encyclopedia)Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brède et de shärl lwē də səkôNdäˈ bärôNˈ də lä brĕd ā də môNtĕskyüˈ [key], 1689–1755, French jurist and political philosopher....

Led Zeppelin

(Encyclopedia)Led Zeppelin, English pop music group formed in 1968 by guitarist Jimmy Page (1944–), singer Robert Plant (1948–), bassist John Paul Jones (1946–), and drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham (1948–80...

phenomenology

(Encyclopedia)phenomenology, modern school of philosophy founded by Edmund Husserl. Its influence extended throughout Europe and was particularly important to the early development of existentialism. Husserl attemp...

Porter, Cole

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Cole, 1891–1964, American composer and lyricist, b. Peru, Ind., grad. Yale, 1913. Porter's witty, sophisticated lyrics and his affecting melodies place him high in the ranks of American comp...

Porter, Katherine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex., as Callie Russell Porter. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story. Her first bo...

Agnew, Spiro Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Agnew, Spiro Theodore spērˈō [key], 1918–96, 39th Vice President of the United States (1969–73), b. Baltimore. Admitted to the bar in 1949, he entered politics as a Republican and was elected (...