Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fort McHenry

(Encyclopedia)Fort McHenry, former U.S. military post in Baltimore harbor; built 1794–1805. In the War of 1812 it was bombarded (Sept. 13–14, 1814) by a British fleet under Sir Alexander Cochrane, but the fort,...

Jhelum, river, India and Pakistan

(Encyclopedia)Jhelum or Jehlam both: jāˈləm [key], westernmost of the five rivers of the Punjab, 480 mi (772 km) long. Rising in Jammu and Kashmir, India, it flows W through the Vale of Kashmir, S through Pakist...

Lombard League

(Encyclopedia)Lombard League, an alliance formed in 1167 among the communes of Lombardy to resist Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I when he attempted to assert his imperial authority in Lombardy. Previously the commun...

Austerlitz

(Encyclopedia)Austerlitz ôˈstərlĭts, Ger. ouˈ– [key], Czech Slavkov u Brna, town, S Czech Republic, in Moravia. An agricultural center, the town has sugar refineries and cotton mills. It became a seat of the...

Parsons, Talcott

(Encyclopedia)Parsons, Talcott, 1902–79, American sociologist, b. Colorado Springs, Colo., educated at Amherst College (B.A., 1924), London School of Economics, and Univ. of Heidelberg (Ph.D., 1927). He was on th...

Pereslavl-Zalesski

(Encyclopedia)Pereslavl-Zalesski pĕrēəsläˈvəl-zəlyĕsˈkē [key], city, central European Russia. It is the birthplace of Alexander Nevsky, and it relies on tourism. The city was founded in 1152, was included...

Porvoo

(Encyclopedia)Porvoo bôrˈgō [key], city (1996 pop. 21,313), Southern Finland prov., S central Finland, on the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of the Porvoonjoki River. It is an export center for forest products and...

Casimir IV

(Encyclopedia)Casimir IV, 1427–92, king of Poland (1447–92). He became (1440) ruler of Lithuania and in 1447 succeeded his brother Ladislaus III as king of Poland. He united the two nations more closely by plac...

Capablanca, José Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Capablanca, José Raúl hōsāˈ räo͞olˈ käpäblängˈkä [key], 1888–1942, Cuban chess player, b. Havana. Champion of Cuba at the age of 12, he won the world's championship from Emanuel Lasker ...

Capo d'Istria, Giovanni Antonio, Count

(Encyclopedia)Capo d'Istria, Giovanni Antonio, Count käˈpō dēˈstrēä [key], Gr. Joannes Antonios Capodistrias or Kapodistrias, 1776–1831, Greek and Russian statesman, b. Corfu. After administrative work in ...