Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Andersson, Karl Johan

(Encyclopedia)Andersson, Karl Johan yo͞oˈhän änˈdərsōnˌ [key], 1827–67, Swedish explorer in Africa. In 1850 he and Francis Galton set out from Walvis Bay (now in Namibia) to explore Damaraland and Ovambol...

Gaeta

(Encyclopedia)Gaeta gäĕˈtä [key], town, in Latium, central Italy, a seaport on a high promontory in the...

Jørgensen, Jens Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Jørgensen, Jens Johannes yĕns yōhäˈnəs yörˈgənsən [key], 1866–1956, Danish poet and religious writer. He reacted against the naturalism of Georg Brandes and, in such works as Poems (1898),...

Joseph I

(Encyclopedia)Joseph I, 1678–1711, Holy Roman emperor (1705–11), king of Hungary (1687–1711) and of Bohemia (1705–11), son and successor of Leopold I. Joseph became Holy Roman emperor in the midst of the Wa...

Atlantis

(Encyclopedia)Atlantis ətlăntĭs, ăt– [key], in Greek legend, large island in the western sea (the Atlantic Ocean). Plato, in his dialogues the Timaeus and the Critias, tells of the high civilization that flou...

Morgan, Edmund Sears

(Encyclopedia)Morgan, Edmund Sears, 1916–2013, U.S. historian, b. Minneapolis. After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1942, he taught at the Univ. of Chicago (1945–46) and at Brown (1946–55) before becomin...

Keaton, Buster

(Encyclopedia)Keaton, Buster (Joseph Francis Keaton), 1895–1966, American movie actor, b. Piqua, Kans. Considered one of the greatest comic actors in film history, Keaton used his considerable acrobatic skills, w...

Lee, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Ann, 1736–84, English religious visionary, founder of the Shakers in America. Born in Manchester, she worked there in the cotton factories and then became a cook. In 1762 she was married to Abr...

Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand

(Encyclopedia)Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand frēˈdrĭkh fĕrˈdĭnänt boist [key], 1809–86, Saxon and Austrian politician. He held various portfolios in the Saxon ministry and served as premier (1853–66), but hi...

Spoleto Festival

(Encyclopedia)Spoleto Festival, also called Festival of the Two Worlds, annual summer arts festival held in Spoleto, Italy. Founded by the composer Gian-Carlo Menotti and the conductor Thomas Schippers, the festiva...

Browse by Subject