Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Krasnodar

(Encyclopedia)Krasnodar krəsˌnədärˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 621,000), capital of Krasnodar Territory, SE European Russia, on the Kuban River. A river port and railroad junction, it has petroleum refineries and ...

Buena Vista, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Buena Vista, battle of, military engagement in the Mexican War, fought Feb. 22–23, 1847. The battle site was just S of Saltillo, Coahuila, in Mexico. Gen. Zachary Taylor, disobeying orders from the ...

Canalejas y Méndez, José

(Encyclopedia)Canalejas y Méndez, José hōsāˈ känälāˈhäs ē mānˈdāth [key], 1854–1912, Spanish politician. After holding several cabinet posts, he became premier in 1910. A democratic radical who hope...

capital, in architecture

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Types of capitals B. Parts of a capital capital, in architecture, the crowning member of a column, pilaster, or pier. It acts as the bearing member beneath the lintel or arch supported by t...

Moscow State University

(Encyclopedia)Moscow State University, at Moscow, Russia, officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State Univ.; founded 1755 as Moscow Univ. by the Russian scientist M. V. Lomonosov, renamed Moscow State Univ. after the R...

meter, unit of measure

(Encyclopedia)meter, abbr. m, fundamental unit of length in the metric system. The meter was originally defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the equator and either pole; however, the original survey was ...

Brameld, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Brameld, Theodore brămˈəld [key], 1904–87, American educator, b. Neillsville, Wis., grad. Ripon College, 1926; Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1931. Brameld was best known for his theory of reconstructio...

pyroxene

(Encyclopedia)pyroxene pīˈrŏksēn [key], name given to members of a group of widely distributed rock minerals called metasilicates in which magnesium, iron, and calcium, often with aluminum, sodium, lithium, man...

biosphere

(Encyclopedia)biosphere, irregularly shaped envelope of the earth's air, water, and land encompassing the heights and depths at which living things exist. The biosphere is a closed and self-regulating system (see e...

Chillingworth, William

(Encyclopedia)Chillingworth, William, 1602–44, English theologian. He was converted to Roman Catholicism and in 1630 went to Douai to study. Under the influence of his godfather, William Laud, he abjured that fai...