Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Acosta, José de

(Encyclopedia)Acosta, José de hōsāˈ ᵺā äkōˈstä [key], c.1539–1600, Spanish Jesuit missionary to Peru. He wrote a well-known history of the Spanish colonial period, The Natural and Moral History of the ...

Tull, Jethro

(Encyclopedia)Tull, Jethro, 1674–1741, English agriculturist and inventor. He studied methods of agriculture in England, France, and Italy and influenced British agriculture through his writings, which include Th...

Niles, Hezekiah

(Encyclopedia)Niles, Hezekiah, 1777–1839, American journalist, b. Jefferis's Ford, Pa. Editor (1805–11) of the Baltimore Evening Post and founder (1811) of Niles' Weekly Register, he was one of the most influen...

Biggs, E. Power

(Encyclopedia)Biggs, E. Power (Edward George Power Biggs), 1906–77, Anglo-American organist. Biggs studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He emigrated to the United States in 1930. Through many recitals, ...

Ur

(Encyclopedia)Ur ûr [key], ancient city of Sumer, S Mesopotamia. The city is also known as Ur of the Chaldees. It was an important center of Sumerian culture (see Sumer) and is identified in the Bible as the home ...

Midland, town, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Midland, town (1991 pop. 13,865), S Ont., Canada, on Georgian Bay, NW of Toronto. Midland is a port and has grain elevators and plants that manufacture textiles, cameras, optical goods, and other prod...

étude

(Encyclopedia)étude āˈto͞od [key], a brief musical composition, usually for piano, fashioned to instruct an instrumentalist in a particular technical problem, such as scales or trills. Succeeding the toccata, p...

Rohtak

(Encyclopedia)Rohtak rōˈtək [key], city (1991 pop. 216,096), Haryana state, N central India. Rohtak is a district administrative center and a market for grain and cotton. Sculpture from the Buddhist period (c.60...

Valentine, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Valentine, Saint, d. c.270, Roman martyr priest. The customs connected with him in English-speaking countries are probably a survival from a period when a pagan festival associated with love occurred ...

Guicciardini, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Guicciardini, Francesco fränchāsˈkō gwēt-chärdēˈnē [key], 1483–1540, Italian historian and statesman. He represented (1512–14) his native Florence at the court of Spain, held offices in t...