Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

444 results found

Scouts

(Encyclopedia)Scouts or Boy Scouts, organization of boys and girls 11 to 17 years old, founded (1907) in Great Britain by Sir Robert (later Lord) Baden-Powell and originally for boys only; since the late 20th cent....

Prefixes for Basic Metric Units (table)

(Encyclopedia)Prefixes for Basic Metric Units Multiples Fractions ...

Petrobras scandal

(Encyclopedia)Petrobras scandal, Brazilian corruption scandal involving executives at the government-controlled oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), prominent politicians, and construction firms work...

Manchuria

(Encyclopedia)Manchuria măncho͝orˈēə [key], Mandarin Dongbei sansheng [three northeastern provinces], region, c.600,000 sq mi (1,554,000 sq km), NE China. It is officially known as the Northeast. Manchuria is ...

Huss, John

(Encyclopedia)Huss, John yän ho͝os [key], 1369?–1415, Czech religious reformer. At the invitation of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, who granted him a safe-conduct, Huss presented himself in 1414 at the Council...

Swiss literature

(Encyclopedia)Swiss literature. The literature of Switzerland is written in German, French, Italian, and Romansh, with German predominating. The extensive literature in Romansh dialect (see Rhaeto-Romanic) is littl...

Tintoretto

(Encyclopedia)Tintoretto tēntōrĕtˈtō [key], 1518–94, Venetian painter, whose real name was Jacopo Robusti. Tintoretto is considered one of the greatest painters in the Venetian tradition. He was called Il Ti...

Rutherford, Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Rutherford, Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron, 1871–1937, British physicist, b. New Zealand. Rutherford left New Zealand in 1895, having earned three degrees from the Univ. of New Zealand but having fail...

Pollaiuolo

(Encyclopedia)Pollaiuolo pōl-läyo͞o-ôˈlō [key], family of Florentine artists. Jacopo Pollaiuolo was a noted 15th-century goldsmith. His son and pupil Antonio Pollaiuolo, 1429?–1498, goldsmith, sculptor, pai...

chapel

(Encyclopedia)chapel, subsidiary place of worship. It is either an alcove or chamber within a church, a separate building, or a room set apart for the purpose of worship in a secular building. A movable shrine cont...