Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Ellsworth, Henry Leavitt

(Encyclopedia)Ellsworth, Henry Leavitt, 1791–1858, American agriculturist, b. Windsor, Conn., grad. Yale, 1810. His interests were varied. He was a lawyer, businessman, and farming enthusiast. In 1832 he made a t...

Estaing, Charles Hector, comte d'

(Encyclopedia)Estaing, Charles Hector, comte d' shärl ĕktôrˈ kôNt dĕstăNˈ [key], 1729–94, French admiral. After serving in India he was given (1778) command of a French fleet sent to aid the colonists in ...

Jura, mountain range, France and Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Jura jo͝orˈə, Fr. zhüräˈ, Ger. yo͞oˈrä [key], mountain range, part of the Alpine system, E France and NW Switzerland, occupying parts of the French region of Franche-Comté and the Swiss cant...

Siegfried and Roy

(Encyclopedia) Siegfried and Roy (Siegfried Fischbacher, 1939-2021, b. Rosenheim, Germany; and Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn, 1944-2020, b. Nordenham, Germany), noted German-A...

Tula , ancient city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Tula to͞oˈlä [key], ancient city in the present state of Hidalgo, central Mexico. It was one of the chief urban centers of the Toltec. The city is believed to be Tollán, the legendary Toltec capit...

Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Du Pont de Nemours, Pierre Samuel pyĕr sämüĕlˈ dü pôN də nəmo͞orˈ [key], 1739–1817, French economist, one of the physiocrats. Early in his career he attracted the attention of François Q...

Francis II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Francis II, 1836–94, last king of the Two Sicilies (1859–61), son and successor of Ferdinand II. A weak ruler, he let his ministers follow his father's reactionary policy. Faced with the growing m...

Wethersfield

(Encyclopedia)Wethersfield wĕᵺˈərzfēld [key], town (1990 pop. 25,651), Hartford co., central Conn., on the Connecticut River, adjoining Hartford on the north; settled 1634 by colonists from Watertown, Mass.; ...

Le Pen, Marine

(Encyclopedia)Le Pen, Marine (Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen) lə pĕn, pŏN [key], 1968–, French politician, daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen. A lawyer, she was in private practice (1992–98) before becoming head of ...

altruism

(Encyclopedia)altruism ălˈtro͞oĭzˈəm [key], concept in philosophy and psychology that holds that the interests of others, rather than of the self, can motivate an individual. The term was invented in the 19th...

Browse by Subject