Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Evans, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Oliver, 1755–1819, American inventor, b. near Newport, Del. He joined his brothers in a flour-milling business in Wilmington, and after studying similar earlier devices, he developed, install...

Parmenion

(Encyclopedia)Parmenion pärmēˈnēən [key], d. 330 b.c., Macedonian general. He served under Philip II. On Philip's death Parmenion was largely responsible for the adherence of the army in Asia to Alexander the ...

Bard, John

(Encyclopedia)Bard, John, 1716–99, American physician, persuaded New York to establish on Bedloe Island its first quarantine station and was himself the first health officer. He wrote on yellow fever, malignant p...

Trudeau, Justin Pierre James

(Encyclopedia)Trudeau, Justin Pierre James tro͞odōˈ [key], 1971–, Canadian politician, b. Ottawa; grad. McGill Univ. (B.A., 1994), Univ. of British Columbia (B.Ed., 1998), son of Pierre Trudeau. He briefly tau...

Orion Nebula

(Encyclopedia)Orion Nebula, bright diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion; also known as the Great Nebula of Orion and cataloged as M42 or NGC 1976. It is located near the middle of the “sword” hanging from ...

Vivekananda

(Encyclopedia)Vivekananda vēˌvəkənŭnˈdə [key], 1863–1902, Hindu mystic, major exponent of Vedanta philosophy. He was born of a well-to-do family in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and his given name was Narendra N...

Warwick, Richard de Beauchamp, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Warwick, Richard de Beauchamp, earl of, 1382–1439, English nobleman; son of Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick. He fought for Henry IV against Owen Glendower in Wales and the Percys at Shrewsbury ...

cataract

(Encyclopedia)cataract, in medicine, opacity of the lens of the eye, which impairs vision. In the young, cataracts are generally congenital or hereditary; later they are usually the result of degenerative changes b...

Soloviev, Vladimir Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Soloviev, Vladimir Sergeyevich vlədyēˈmĭr sĭrgāˈəvĭch sələvyôfˈ [key], 1853–1900, Russian religious philosopher and poet; son of Sergei Mikhailovich Soloviev. Soloviev believed in the i...

Bruna, Dick

(Encyclopedia)Bruna, Dick (Hendrick Magdalenus Bruna), 1927–2017, Dutch children's book author and illustrator, b. Utrecht. The author of more than 120 books, Bruna is best known for his stories about a white rab...

Browse by Subject