Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

496 results found

Schlegel, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Schlegel, Friedrich von fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1772–1829, German philosopher, critic, and writer, most prominent of the founders of German romanticism. Educated in law at Göttingen and Leipzig, h...

Proud Boys

(Encyclopedia)Proud Boys, American political movement. Founded in 2016 by Vice Media cofounder Gavin McInnes, the Proud Boys promotes the philosophy of far-right, ne...

Washington, Denzel

(Encyclopedia) Washington, Denzel (Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.), 1954- , African-American actor, b. Mount Vernon, N.Y., Fordham Univ. (B.A., 1977). Washington’s fa...

protactinium

(Encyclopedia)protactinium prōˌtăktĭnˈēəm [key], radioactive chemical element; symbol Pa; at. no. 91; mass number of most stable isotope 231; m.p. greater than 1,600℃; b.p. 4,026℃; sp. gr. 15.37 (calcula...

rhenium

(Encyclopedia)rhenium rēˈnēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Re; at. no. 75; at. wt. 186.207; m.p. about 3,180℃; b.p. about 5,625℃; sp. gr. 21.02 at 20℃; valence −1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, or +7....

Wright brothers

(Encyclopedia)Wright brothers, American airplane inventors and aviation pioneers. Orville Wright 1871–1948, was born in Dayton, Ohio, and Wilbur Wright, 1867–1912, near New Castle, Ind. Their interest in aviati...

Solidarity

(Encyclopedia)Solidarity, Polish independent trade union federation formed in Sept., 1980. Led by Lech Wałęsa, it grew rapidly in size and political power and soon posed a threat to Poland's Communist government ...

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir Volfovich

(Encyclopedia)Zhirinovsky, Vladimir Volfovich vlədyēˈmĭr vôlˈfəvyĭchˌ zhĭrˌĭnôfˈskē [key], 1946–, Russian politician, b. Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan) as Vladimir Volfovich Eidelshtein. Born into a p...

internal-combustion engine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal-combustion engines: In the four-stroke reciprocating engine (above), a mixture of fuel and air is taken into the chamber on the down-stroke of the piston, is compressed on the up-strok...

Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Robert, 1734–1806, American merchant, known as the “financier of the American Revolution,” and signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Liverpool, England. Morris emigrated to Ameri...

Browse by Subject