Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Campion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Campion or Campian, Thomas, 1567–1620, English poet, composer, and lutenist, a physician by profession. Campion wrote lyric poems that he and other composers set to music. His graceful, simple lute ...

veronica, Christian relic

(Encyclopedia)veronica vərŏnˈĭkə [key] [Lat., probably connected with Greek Berenice], relic preserved in St. Peter's Church, Rome. It is said to be a veil that a woman used to wipe the face of Jesus as he was...

Copernican system

(Encyclopedia)Copernican system, first modern European theory of planetary motion that was heliocentric, i.e., that placed the sun motionless at the center of the solar system with all the planets, including the ea...

wig

(Encyclopedia)wig, arrangement of artificial or human hair worn to conceal baldness, as a disguise, or as part of a costume, either theatrical, ceremonial, or fashionable. In ancient Egypt the wig was worn to prote...

Butler, Samuel, 1835–1902, English author

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Samuel, 1835–1902, English author. He was the son and grandson of eminent clergymen. In 1859, refusing to be ordained, he went to New Zealand, where he established a sheep farm and in a few ...

Broadway

(Encyclopedia)Broadway, famous thoroughfare in New York City. It extends from Bowling Green near the foot of Manhattan island N to 262d St. in the Bronx. Throughout its length Broadway is chiefly a commercial stree...

Alpena

(Encyclopedia)Alpena ălpēˈnə [key], city, seat of Alpena co., N Mich., on Thunder Bay, an arm of Lake Huron; inc. 1871. Limestone quarried nearby is used to make cement, Alpena's ch...

Char, René

(Encyclopedia)Char, René rənāˈ chärˈ [key], 1907–88, French poet. His writing reflects both his Provençal origins and his years of active participation in the French resistance. At first attracted to surre...

Ilipa

(Encyclopedia)Ilipa ĭlˈĭpə [key], ancient town of Spain, near the modern Seville. Here Scipio Africanus Major defeated (206 b.c.) the Carthaginian forces after Hasdrubal had fled to Gaul. The overthrow of Carth...

Imola

(Encyclopedia)Imola ēˈmōlä [key], city, Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, on the Aemilian Way. It is an ...