Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Camagüey, city, Cuba

(Encyclopedia)Camagüey, city (1995 est. pop. 295,000), capital of Camagüey prov., E Cuba. The island's third most populous city, Camagüey, is a leading hub of rail, road, and air transport as well as an importan...

Blair, James

(Encyclopedia)Blair, James, 1656–1743, Church of England clergyman, missionary to colonial Virginia, and founder of the College of William and Mary, b. Scotland. At the request of the bishop of London, Blair trav...

Chinese architecture

(Encyclopedia)Chinese architecture, the buildings and other structures created in China from prehistoric times to the present day. Since the late 19th cent. the Chinese have adopted European architectural styles....

Beethoven, Ludwig van

(Encyclopedia)Beethoven, Ludwig van lŭdˈwĭg văn bāˈtōvən, Ger. lo͝otˈvĭkh fän bātˈhōfən [key], 1770–1827, German composer. He is universally recognized as one of the greatest composers of the West...

Persian literature

(Encyclopedia)Persian literature, literary writings in the Persian language, nearly all of it written in the area traditionally known as Persia, now Iran. The 15th cent. period of the second Turko-Tartar invasi...

Hellenistic civilization

(Encyclopedia)Hellenistic civilization. The conquests of Alexander the Great spread Hellenism immediately over the Middle East and far into Asia. After his death in 323 b.c., the influence of Greek civilization con...

Stendhal

(Encyclopedia)Stendhal märē äNrēˈ bĕl [key], 1783–1842, French writer, recognized as one of the great French novelists. He grew up in Grenoble hating his father and the Jesuit, Royalist atmosphere in his ho...

bookkeeping

(Encyclopedia)bookkeeping, maintenance of systematic and convenient records of money transactions in order to show the condition of a business enterprise. The essential purpose of bookkeeping is to reveal the amoun...

Ku K'ai-chih

(Encyclopedia)Ku K'ai-chih go͞o kī-jûr [key], c.344–c.406, Chinese painter, one of the most eminent painters before the T'ang dynasty. He was especially noted for his portraits but also painted landscapes. Non...

Molech

(Encyclopedia)Molech mōˈlŏk [key], Canaanite god of fire to whom children were offered in sacrifice; he is also known as an Assyrian god. He is attested as early as the 3d millennium b.c., although most known re...

Browse by Subject