Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Haile Selassie

(Encyclopedia)Haile Selassie hīˈlē səlăsˈē, –läˈsē [key], [Amharic,=power of the Trinity], 1892–1975, emperor of Ethiopia (1930–74). He was born Tafari Makonnen, the son of a noted general and the g...

Grünewald, Mathias

(Encyclopedia)Grünewald, Mathias mätēˈäs grünˈəvält [key], c.1475–1528, German painter of religious subjects. His original name was Mathis Gothart Neithart. Although he assimilated various compositional ...

Alvarado, Pedro de

(Encyclopedia)Alvarado, Pedro de älväräˈᵺō [key], 1486–1541, Spanish conquistador. He went to Hispaniola (1510), sailed in the expedition (1518) of Juan de Grijalva, and was the chief lieutenant of Herná...

Thebes , city of ancient Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Thebes thēbz [key], city of ancient Egypt. Luxor and Karnak now occupy parts of its site. The city developed at a very early date from a number of small villages, particularly one around modern Luxor...

public land

(Encyclopedia)public land, in U.S. history, land owned by the federal government but not reserved for any special purpose, e.g., for a park or a military reservation. Public land is also called land in the public d...

Scythia

(Encyclopedia)Scythia sĭthˈēə [key], ancient region of Eurasia, extending from the Danube on the west to the borders of China on the east. The Scythians flourished from the 8th to the 4th cent. b.c. They spoke ...

promethium

(Encyclopedia)promethium prōmēˈthēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Pm; at. no. 61; mass no. of most stable isotope 145; m.p. 1,042℃; b.p. 3,000℃ (estimated); sp. gr. unk...

monarchy

(Encyclopedia)monarchy, form of government in which sovereignty is vested in a single person whose right to rule is generally hereditary and who is empowered to remain in office for life. The power of this sovereig...

Breton, André

(Encyclopedia)Breton, André äNdrāˈ brətôNˈ [key], 1896–1966, French writer, founder and theorist of the surrealist movement. He studied neuropsychology and was one of the first in France to publicize the w...

Brzezinski, Zbigniew Kazimierz

(Encyclopedia)Brzezinski, Zbigniew Kazimierz zbĭgˈnyĕv käzēmˈyĕsh brəzhĭnˈskē ...