Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Nashe, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Nashe or Nash, Thomas both: năsh [key], 1567–1601, English satirist. Very little is known of his life. Although his first publications appeared in 1589, it was not until Pierce Penniless His Suppli...

Olympia, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Olympia, city (1990 pop. 33,840), state capital, and seat of Thurston co., W Wash., at the southern tip of Puget Sound, on Budd Inlet; inc. 1859. A port of entry, it ships lumber products and agricult...

Aiken, Conrad

(Encyclopedia)Aiken, Conrad āˈkĭn [key], 1889–1973, American author, b. Savannah, Ga., grad. Harvard, 1912. Aiken is best known for his poetry, which often is preoccupied with the sound and structure of music;...

Versace, Gianni

(Encyclopedia)Versace, Gianni (Giovanni Maria Versace), 1946–97, Italian fashion designer, b. Reggio Calabria. A dressmaker's son, Versace worked for several Italian designers before opening (1978) his own Milan ...

Ryder, Donald P.

(Encyclopedia)Ryder, Donald P., , 1926-2021, African-American architect, b. Springfield, Oh., Univ. of Illinois (BA, 1951). Ryder was raised in Dayton, Ohio. He serve...

Worms, Diet of

(Encyclopedia)Worms, Diet of, 1521, most famous of the imperial diets held at Worms, Germany. It was opened in Jan., 1521, by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. After disposing of other business, notably the question of...

Betjeman, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Betjeman, Sir John bĕtˈjəmən [key], 1906–84, English poet, b. London. Traditional in rhyme and meter, his verse combined a witty appraisal of the English present with nostalgia for England's pas...

Rivadavia, Bernardino

(Encyclopedia)Rivadavia, Bernardino bārnärᵺēˈnō rēväᵺäˈvyä [key], 1780–1845, Argentine statesman and diplomat, first president of the United Provinces of La Plata (1826–27). He served (1806–7) u...

oratory

(Encyclopedia)oratory, the art of swaying an audience by eloquent speech. In ancient Greece and Rome oratory was included under the term rhetoric, which meant the art of composing as well as delivering a speech. Or...

Eisenach

(Encyclopedia)Eisenach īˈzənäkh [key], city, Thuringia, central Germany. It is an industrial center and ...