Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Harley, Robert, 1st earl of Oxford

(Encyclopedia)Harley, Robert, 1st earl of Oxford, 1661–1724, English statesman and bibliophile. His career illustrates the power of personal connections and intrigue in the politics of his day. When he entered (1...

German East Africa

(Encyclopedia)German East Africa, former German colony, c.370,000 sq mi (958,300 sq km), E Africa. Dar es Salaam was the capital. German influence emerged in the area in 1884 when Carl Peters, the German explorer, ...

West, Dame Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)West, Dame Rebecca, 1892–1983, English novelist and critic, b. Ireland as Cicily Isabel Fairfield. West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. At various times sh...

Jarrell, Randall

(Encyclopedia)Jarrell, Randall jərĕlˈ [key], 1914–65, American poet and critic, b. Nashville, Tenn., grad. Vanderbilt Univ. (B.A., 1935; M.A., 1938). His poetry, reflecting an unusually sensitive and tragic vi...

Lübeck

(Encyclopedia)Lübeck lüˈbĕk [key], city (1994 pop. 217,270), Schleswig-Holstein, central Germany, on the Trave River near its mouth on the Baltic Sea. It is a major port and a commercial and industrial center; ...

Porter, Katherine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex., as Callie Russell Porter. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story. Her first bo...

cerium

(Encyclopedia)cerium sērˈēəm [key] [from the asteroid Ceres], metallic chemical element; symbol Ce; at. no. 58; at. wt. 140.116; m.p. 799℃; b.p. 3,426℃; sp. gr. 6.77 at 25℃; valence +3 or +4. Cerium is a ...

Strasbourg

(Encyclopedia)Strasbourg sträzbo͞orˈ [key], Ger. Strassburg, city (1990 pop. 255,931), capital of Bas-Rhin dept., NE France, on the Ill River near its junction with the Rhine. It is the intellectual and commerci...

Grisons

(Encyclopedia)Grisons grēsŏnzˈ, Fr. grēzôNˈ [key], Ger. Graubünden, Ital. Grigioni, Romansch Gri...

Montcalm, Louis Joseph de

(Encyclopedia)Montcalm, Louis Joseph de mŏntkämˈ, Fr. lwē zhôzĕfˈ də môNkälmˈ [key], 1712–59, French general. His name in fuller form was Louis Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, marquis de Saint-Véran. A vete...