Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Socoh

(Encyclopedia)Socoh sōˈkō [key], in the Bible. 1 Town, SW ancient Palestine, SW of Bethlehem. It is also spelled Shochoh, Shoco, Shocho, Socho, and Sochoh. 2 Town, in the hill country of Judah, SW of Hebron. 3 T...

Areopagus

(Encyclopedia)Areopagus ărēŏpˈəgəs [key] [Gr.,=hill of Ares], rocky hill, 370 ft (113 m) high, NW of the Acropolis of Athens, famous as the sacred meeting place of the prime council of Athens. This council, a...

Indus valley civilization

(Encyclopedia)Indus valley civilization, ancient civilization that arose about 3300 b.c. in the valley of the Indus River and its tributaries, in the northwestern portion of the Indian subcontinent, i.e., present-d...

quartz

(Encyclopedia)quartz, one of the commonest of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth's crust. Chemically, it is silicon dioxide, SiO2. It occurs in crystals of the hexagon...

Van Horne, Sir William Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Van Horne, Sir William Cornelius, 1843–1915, president (1888–99) and chairman of the board (1899–1915) of the Canadian Pacific Railway, b. Illinois. He worked on U.S. railways before becoming (1...

Muybridge, Eadweard

(Encyclopedia)Muybridge, Eadweard ĕdˈwərd mīˈbrĭj [key], 1830–1904, English-born photographer and student of animal locomotion. Muybridge changed his name from Edward James Muggeridge. A gifted and obsessed...

Perugia

(Encyclopedia)Perugia pāro͞oˈjä [key], city (1991 pop. 144,732), capital of Umbria and of Perugia prov., central Italy, situated on a hill overlooking the valley of the Tiber River. It is a commercial, industri...

Moreh

(Encyclopedia)Moreh mōˈrē [key], in the Bible. 1 Place, ancient Palestine, known by its holy tree, near Shechem. It was Abraham's first resting place after entering the land of Canaan. 2 Hill of N ancient Palest...

Malakhov

(Encyclopedia)Malakhov məläˈkhəf [key], hill overlooking Sevastopol, S Crimea, just east of the city. A major fortified point in the Crimean War, it was stormed (1855) by the French after an 11-month siege. The...

Kurunegala

(Encyclopedia)Kurunegala ko͝orˌo͞onāˈgələ [key], town (1995 est. pop. 29,500), W central Sri Lanka. It is a road junction and the administrative and commercial center of a coconut, rice, and rubber plantatio...

Browse by Subject