Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bedford, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, town and borough, central England, on the Ouse River. It is an important industrial center; diesel engines, pumps, turbines, agricultural machi...

Stavanger

(Encyclopedia)Stavanger stävängˈər [key], city (1995 est. pop. 103,496), capital of Rogaland co., SW Norway, a port on the Stavangerfjord (an arm of the Boknfjord). It is an important commercial and industrial ...

milling

(Encyclopedia)milling, mechanical grinding of wheat or other grains to produce flour. Milling separates the fine, mealy parts of grain from the fibrous bran covering. In prehistoric times grain was crushed between ...

Rowling, J. K.

(Encyclopedia)Rowling, J. K. (Joanne Kathleen Rowling) rōlˈibreve;ing [key], 1965–, English author known for her popular children's books. While unemployed she completed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone...

Saint Paul's Cathedral

(Encyclopedia)Saint Paul's Cathedral, London, masterpiece of Sir Christopher Wren and one of the finest church designs of the English baroque. It stands at the head of Ludgate Hill, where, according to tradition, a...

Borglum, Gutzon

(Encyclopedia)Borglum, Gutzon (John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum) gŭtˈsən dĕ lˈə mät bôrˈgləm [key], 1867–1941, American sculptor, b. Idaho; son of a Danish immigrant physician and rancher. He studied at ...

Kyffhäuser

(Encyclopedia)Kyffhäuser kĭfˈhoizər [key], forested mountain, c.1,550 ft (470 m), Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is crowned by the two ruined castles of Rothenburg (7th cent.) and Kyffhausen (12th cent.) an...

Latin America

(Encyclopedia)Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. The 20 republics are Arge...

Mandelstam, Osip Emilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Mandelstam, Osip Emilyevich ôˈsĭp ĕmyēlˈyəvĭch mänˈdĭlstəm [key], 1892–1938, Russian poet. Mandelstam was a leader of the Acmeist school. He wrote impersonal, fatalistic, meticulously co...

Fort Niagara

(Encyclopedia)Fort Niagara, post on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River, NW N.Y. It was strategically located on the water route to the fur lands. French explorer Robert LaSalle er...