Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Laval, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Laval, Pierre lävälˈ [key], 1883–1945, French politician. Elected (1914) to the chamber of deputies as a Socialist, he held various cabinet posts and in 1926 became a senator as an Independent, ...

Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Maximilian, 1832–67, emperor of Mexico (1864–67). As the Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, he was denied a share in the imperial government by his reactionary brother, Emperor Francis Joseph...

cluster munitions

(Encyclopedia)cluster munitions or cluster bombs, air-dropped or ground-launched weapons that open in mid-air and scatter dozens, hundreds, or thousands of smaller submunitions (or bomblets) over a wide area. Such ...

Norfolk, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk [1,] [2] nôrˈfək; [2] nôrˈfôkˌ [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 21,476), Madison co., NE Nebr., on the Elkhorn River; inc. 1881. A trade and railroad center in a fertile farming region, it has ...

Valtellina

(Encyclopedia)Valtellina vältāl-lēˈnä [key], Alpine valley of the upper Adda River, c.75 mi (120 km) long, in Lombardy, N Italy, extending from Lake Como to the Stelvio Pass. The main towns are Sondrio and Tir...

swimming

(Encyclopedia)swimming, self-propulsion through water, often as a form of recreation or exercise or as a competitive sport. It is mentioned in many of the classics in connection with heroic acts or religious rites....

Lane, Fitz Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Lane, Fitz Hugh, 1804–65, American painter and printmaker, b. Gloucester, Mass. A painter of ships and coastal panoramas, Lane is most notable as a leading figure in American luminism. He illuminate...

Luce, Stephen Bleecker

(Encyclopedia)Luce, Stephen Bleecker, 1827–1917, American naval officer, b. Albany, N.Y. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1841. In the Civil War he was head of the department of seamanship at the Naval Acad...

Madariaga, Salvador de

(Encyclopedia)Madariaga, Salvador de (Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo) sälväᵺōrˈ dā mäᵺäryäˈgä ē rōˈhō [key], 1886–1978, Spanish author and diplomat. In 1922 Madariaga became head of the disarmamen...

Louganis, Greg E.

(Encyclopedia)Louganis, Greg E. lo͞ogāˈnĭs [key], 1960–, American diver, b. San Diego, Calif. He won gold medals in springboard diving and platform diving in the 1984 Olympics and repeated in both categories ...