Columbia Encyclopedia

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Freemasonry

(Encyclopedia)Freemasonry, teachings and practices of the secret fraternal order officially known as the Free and Accepted Masons, or Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. Because of its identification with 19th-cent...

Oceanic art

(Encyclopedia)Oceanic art, works produced by the island peoples of the S and NW Pacific, including Melanesia (New Guinea and the islands to its north and east), Micronesia (Mariana, Caroline, Marshall, and Gilbert ...

Jerusalem

(Encyclopedia)Jerusalem jəro͞oˈsələm, –zələm [key], Heb. Yerushalayim, Arab. Al Quds, city (1994 pop. 578,800), capital of Israel. East Jerusalem is also claimed by Palestinians as a future capital, and mo...

lily

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Wood lily, Lilium philadelphicum lily, common name for the Liliaceae, a plant family numbering several thousand species of as many as 300 genera, widely distributed over the earth and particul...

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

(Encyclopedia)Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus mōtˈsärt, Ger. vôlfˈgäng ämädāˈo͝os mōˈtsärt [key], 1756–91, Austrian composer, b. Salzburg. Mozart represents one of the great peaks in the history of music. ...

temple, edifice of worship

(Encyclopedia)temple, edifice or sometimes merely an enclosed area dedicated to the worship of a deity and the enshrinement of holy objects connected with such worship. The temple has been employed in most of the w...

Greek literature, ancient

(Encyclopedia)Greek literature, ancient, the writings of the ancient Greeks. The Greek Isles are recognized as the birthplace of Western intellectual life. The next period of Greek literature reached its zenith i...

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917–63, 35th President of the United States (1961–63), b. Brookline, Mass.; son of Joseph P. Kennedy. On Nov. 22, 1963, President Kennedy was shot and killed while ...

Australia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Australia ôstrālˈyə [key], smallest continent, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. With the island state of Tasmania to the south, the continent makes up th...

World War II

(Encyclopedia)World War II, 1939–45, worldwide conflict involving every major power in the world. The two sides were generally known as the Allies and the Axis. Although hostilities came to an end in Sept...