Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Alexius II

(Encyclopedia)Alexius II (Alexius Comnenus), 1168–83, Byzantine emperor (1180–83), son and successor of Manuel I. His mother, Mary of Antioch, who was regent for him, alienated the population by favoring the La...

Clarke, Charles Cowden

(Encyclopedia)Clarke, Charles Cowden, 1787–1877, English lecturer and author. He was a close friend of Keats, who was a pupil of Clarke's father. Clarke's lectures on Shakespeare were published as Shakespeare Cha...

Cheke, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Cheke, Sir John chēk [key], 1514–57, English scholar. As professor of Greek at Cambridge he taught Roger Ascham and later was tutor to Edward VI. A Protestant, he was imprisoned by Mary I. Although...

Benedetto da Majano

(Encyclopedia)Benedetto da Majano bānādĕtˈtō dä mäyäˈnō [key], 1442–97. Italian sculptor and architect of the Florentine school. His pulpits, altarpieces, and other church furniture are beautifully exec...

Miriam

(Encyclopedia)Miriam mĭrˈēəm [key], in the Bible. 1 Sister of Moses and Aaron. After the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, she led the women in the song of Miriam. Later she sided with Aaron against Moses and was s...

Kinross, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Kinross kĭnrôsˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 3,459), Perth and Kinross, E Scotland, on Loch Leven. Kinross is an agricultural hub, with some woolen and linen manufacturing. Mary Queen of Scots was impris...

Habash al-Hasib

(Encyclopedia)Habash al-Hasib häbäshˈ äl-häsēbˈ [key], d. c.870, Arab mathematician and astronomer. Habash al-Hasib was born in what is now Mary, Turkmenistan, and worked in Baghdad. He calculated tables of ...

Fleming, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Sir Alexander, 1881–1955, Scottish bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin (1928) and lysozyme (1922), an antibacterial substance found in saliva and other body secretions. Educated at St....

Avalon Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Avalon Peninsula, 3,579 sq mi (9,270 sq km), SE N.L., Canada, on Newfoundland. It is nearly divided at its center by Conception Bay and St. Mary's Bay. The peninsula is the most densely populated part...

Bethune-Cookman College

(Encyclopedia)Bethune-Cookman College, at Daytona Beach, Fla.; United Methodist; coeducational. Named for its founder and first president, Mary McCleod Bethune, the school was formed as a result of a merger (1923) ...

Browse by Subject