Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Benalcázar, Sebastián de

(Encyclopedia)Benalcázar or Belalcázar, Sebastián de sābästyänˈ dā bānälkäˈthär, bāläl– [key], c.1479–1551, Spanish conquistador. After accompanying Columbus on his third voyage (1498), Benalcáz...

diurnal circle

(Encyclopedia)diurnal circle dīûrˈnəl [key], apparent path followed by a star due to the earth's rotation on its axis. The stars appear to move on the celestial sphere in concentric circular paths centered at t...

Chichester

(Encyclopedia)Chichester chĭˈchĭstər [key], city and district, West Sussex, S England. Chichester is an ...

Gibbon, John

(Encyclopedia)Gibbon, John, 1827–96, Union general in the Civil War, b. near Holmesburg (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. West Point, 1847. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (1862), he fought in the sec...

Auriemma, Geno

(Encyclopedia)Auriemma, Geno (Luigi Auriemma), 1954–, American basketball coach, b. Montella, Italy, grad. West Chester State College (now West Chester Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1977. After coaching as an assistant...

block book

(Encyclopedia)block book. Before and after the invention of printing from movable types in the mid-15th cent., some books were printed in Europe from engraved wooden blocks, with one block for each page. This metho...

Mujibur Rahman

(Encyclopedia)Mujibur Rahman mo͞ojēbo͝orˈ rämänˈ [key], 1921–75, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) political leader, prime minister of Bangladesh (1972–75), popularly known as Sheikh Mujib. Concerned that E...

Odoacer

(Encyclopedia)Odoacer –vāˈkər [key], c.435–493, chieftain of the Heruli, the Sciri, and the Rugii (see Germans). He and his troops were mercenaries in the service of Rome, but in 476 the Heruli revolted and ...

Cumberland Plateau

(Encyclopedia)Cumberland Plateau or Cumberland Mountains, southwestern division of the Appalachian Mt. system, extending northeast to southwest through parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee into...

Mahan, Dennis Hart

(Encyclopedia)Mahan, Dennis Hart, 1802–71, American soldier and educator, b. New York City; father of Alfred Thayer Mahan. He graduated (1824) from West Point, and from that year until 1871, except for four years...