Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Malden

(Encyclopedia)Malden môlˈdən [key], city (1990 pop. 53,884), Middlesex co., E Mass., a suburb of Boston, in the Mystic valley; settled 1640, inc. 1882. Among its varied manufactures are electronic parts, metal c...

Lungu, Edgar Chagwa

(Encyclopedia)Lungu, Edgar Chagwa, 1956–, Zambian political leader. Trained as a lawyer, he entered politics as a member of the United Party for National Development (UPND), then switched to the Patriotic Front (...

Marape, James

(Encyclopedia)Marape, James, 1971–, Papua New Guinea political leader. First elected to parliament in 2007 as a member of the National Alliance party, he served as education minister (2008–11) under Prime Minis...

Munkácsy, Mihály

(Encyclopedia)Munkácsy, Mihály mĭˈhälyə mo͝onˈkächĭ [key], 1844–1909, Hungarian genre and historical painter, whose original name was Michael Lieb. In 1868 he went to Düsseldorf, where he painted The L...

Schwäbisch Hall

(Encyclopedia)Schwäbisch Hall shvĕbˈĭsh häl [key] or Hall, city (1994 pop. 33,892), Baden-Württemberg, S Germany, on the Kocher River. It is a rail junction and has manufactures in building materials, textile...

Byrne, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Byrne, Jane, 1934–2014, American politician, b. Chicago as Margaret Jane Burke. She was Chicago's consumer sales commissioner (1968–77) under Mayor Richard Daley before she became the first woman ...

Magnesia, ancient cities, Lydia

(Encyclopedia)Magnesia măgnēˈzhə [key], two ancient cities of Lydia, W Asia Minor (now W Turkey). They were colonies of the Magnetes, a tribe of E Thessaly. One city (Magnesia ad Maeandrum), SE of Smyrna (Izmir...

Muir, John

(Encyclopedia)Muir, John, 1838–1914, American naturalist, b. Dunbar, Scotland, studied at the Univ. of Wisconsin. He came to the United States in 1849 and settled in California in 1868. In recognition of his effo...

delta

(Encyclopedia)delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sed...

cymbals

(Encyclopedia)cymbals sĭmˈbəlz [key], percussion instruments of ancient Asian origin. They consist of a pair of slightly concave metal plates which produce a vibrant sound of indeterminate pitch. Known in Europe...

Browse by Subject