Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

265 results found

Isthmian games

(Encyclopedia)Isthmian games ĭsˈmēən [key], athletic events organized c.581 b.c. They were held at Corinth in the spring of the first and third years of the Olympiad, and they honored Palaemon as well as Poseid...

von Euler, Ulf

(Encyclopedia)von Euler, Ulf, 1905–83, Swedish physiologist and pharmacologist, Ph.D. Karolinska Institute, 1930. He was a professor at the Karolinska Institute from 1930 to 1971. Von Euler won the 1970 Nobel Pri...

War Production Board

(Encyclopedia)War Production Board (WPB), former U.S. government agency, established (Jan., 1942) by executive order to direct war production and the procurement of materials in World War II. The chairman (Donald M...

Bibulus

(Encyclopedia)Bibulus (Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus) bĭbˈyo͝oləs [key], d. 48 b.c., Roman statesman. The colleague in the consulship with Julius Caesar in 59 b.c., he did everything in his power to block each move...

Vercingetorix

(Encyclopedia)Vercingetorix vûrˌsĭnjĕtˈərĭks [key], d. 46 b.c., leader of the Gauls, a chieftain of the Arverni. He was the leader of the great revolt against the Romans in 52 b.c. Julius Caesar, upon hearin...

Aedui

(Encyclopedia)Aedui hĕˈdyo͞oī [key], Gallic people, occupying in the 1st cent. b.c. a part of what later became Burgundy. Defeated by Ariovistus and at odds with their Gallic neighbors, they were allies of the ...

Johnson, Judy

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Judy (William Julius Johnson), 1899–1989, American baseball player, b. Snow Hill, Md. His father, a boxing coach, wanted him to be a prizefighter, but he started playing semipro baseball in...

Ammanati, Bartolomeo

(Encyclopedia)Ammanati, Bartolomeo bärtōlōmĕˈō äm-mänäˈtē [key], 1511–92, Italian sculptor and architect. He studied under Bandinelli in Florence and assisted Jacopo Sansovino in his work on the Librar...

Julian Day calendar

(Encyclopedia)Julian Day calendar, system of astronomical dating that allows the difference between two dates to be calculated more easily than conventional civil calendars with their uneven months. It was devised ...

Social War

(Encyclopedia)Social War or Marsic War [Lat. socii=allies], 91b.c.–88 b.c., struggle brought on by demands of the Italian allies for the privileges of Roman citizenship. The allies had fought on the side of Rome ...