Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Elder, Lee

(Encyclopedia) Elder, Lee, 1934-2021, American professional golfer, b. Dallas, Tx., as Robert Lee Elder. Elder broke many racial barriers in professional golf as the ...

discus throwing

(Encyclopedia)discus throwing, gymnastic exercise of the ancient Greeks, revived in modern times, especially as part of the Olympic games (in which it is an event of the decathlon) and as an event of most other tra...

ronin

(Encyclopedia)ronin rōˈnĭn [key], in Japanese history, masterless samurai. Ronin were retainers who were deprived of their place in the usual loyalty patterns of Japanese feudalism. The daimyo they had served mi...

butoh

(Encyclopedia)butoh [Jap.,=dance of darkness], avant-garde dance form developed in post–World War II Japan. First performed in 1959 by the dancers Tatsumi Hijikata (1928–86) and Kazuo Ohno (1906–2010), butoh ...

Mackenzie, William Lyon

(Encyclopedia)Mackenzie, William Lyon, 1795–1861, Canadian journalist and insurgent leader, b. Scotland; grandfather of William Lyon Mackenzie King. Emigrating to Upper Canada in 1820, he published (1824–34), f...

magnitude

(Encyclopedia)magnitude, in astronomy, measure of the brightness of a star or other celestial object. The stars cataloged by Ptolemy (2d cent. a.d.), all visible with the unaided eye, were ranked on a brightness sc...

caravan

(Encyclopedia)caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with the hist...

Lundy Isle

(Encyclopedia)Lundy Isle, 3 mi (4.8 km) long, off Devon, SW England, at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. Granite was quarried there for centuries. Inhabited in prehistoric times, Lundy Isle was a stronghold of pir...

Johnston, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Johnston, Gabriel, 1699–1752, colonial governor of North Carolina (1734–52). An efficient and popular Scot, he nevertheless had constant difficulties with the assembly over quitrents and other fin...

Kástron

(Encyclopedia)Kástron käˈstrôn [key], town, E Greece, on Límnos island, in the Aegean Sea. It is a seaport trading in local produce. In ancient times it was known as Myrina. Today it is also called Kastro or C...

Browse by Subject