Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Pallava

(Encyclopedia)Pallava pəläˈvä [key], S Indian dynasty that established its capital at Kanchipuram in the 4th cent. a.d. Of obscure origin, it grew wealthy and strong and is most noted for its patronage of Dravi...

Agincourt

(Encyclopedia)Agincourt äzhăNko͞orˈ [key], modern Fr. Azincourt, village, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France. There, during the Hundred Years War, Henry V of England with some 6,000 men defeated a French army six ti...

boomerang

(Encyclopedia)boomerang bo͞oˈmərăngˌ [key], special form of throwing stick, used mainly by the aborigines of Australia. Other forms of throwing sticks were used by the peoples of ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and I...

Bourke-White, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Bourke-White, Margaret bûrkˈ hwīt [key], 1904–71, American photo-journalist, b. New York City. One of the original staff photographers at Fortune, Life, and Time magazines, Bourke-White was noted...

Bernstorff, Johann Heinrich, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Bernstorff, Johann Heinrich, Graf von bĕrnsˈtôrf [key], 1862–1939, German diplomat. As ambassador to the United States (1908–17), he tried to conciliate American feelings toward Germany and re...

Suffren de Saint-Tropez, Pierre André de

(Encyclopedia)Suffren de Saint-Tropez, Pierre André de pyĕr äNdrāˈ də süfrĕnˈ də săN-trôpāˈ [key], 1726–88, French admiral. He participated in naval warfare in the War of the Austrian Succession and...

Tirpitz, Alfred von

(Encyclopedia)Tirpitz, Alfred von älˈfrāt fən tĭrˈpĭts [key], 1849–1930, German admiral. His influence on German naval policy began with his study of the recently invented torpedo and his consequent appoin...

scalping

(Encyclopedia)scalping, taking the scalp of an enemy. The custom, comparable to head-hunting, was formerly practiced in Europe and Asia (Herodotus describes its practice by the Scythians, for example), but it is ge...

Viet Cong

(Encyclopedia)Viet Cong vēĕtˈ kông [key], officially Viet Nam Cong San [Vietnamese Communists], People's Liberation Armed Forces in South Vietnam. The term was originally applied by Diem's regime to Communist t...

Marine Corps, United States

(Encyclopedia)Marine Corps, United States, military corps that forms a separate service within the U.S. Dept. of the Navy. The commandant of the Marine Corps is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During conflic...