Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

adrenocorticotropic hormone

(Encyclopedia)adrenocorticotropic hormone ədrēˈnōkôrˌtəkōtrŏpˈĭk [key], polypeptide hormone secreted by the anterior pituitary gland. Its chief function is to stimulate the cortex of the adrenal gland to...

Keegan, Sir John Desmond Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Keegan, Sir John Desmond Patrick, 1934–2012, British military historian, b. London. The foremost British military historian of his era, he attended Oxford and after graduation went to the United Sta...

Maginot Line

(Encyclopedia)Maginot Line măzhˈĭnō, Fr. mäzhēnōˈ [key], system of fortifications along the eastern frontier of France, extending from the Swiss border to the Belgian. It was named for André Maginot, who w...

Mangas Coloradas

(Encyclopedia)Mangas Coloradas mängˈgäs kōlōräˈᵺäs [key] [Span.,=red sleeves], c.1797–1863, chief of the Mimbrenos group of Apache of SW New Mexico. Many of the Mimbrenos were massacred by trappers in 1...

Hugh the Great

(Encyclopedia)Hugh the Great, d. 956, French duke; son of King Robert I and father of Hugh Capet. Excluded from the succession on his father's death by his brother-in-law Raoul, he supported the candidacy of Louis ...

Ibrahim Pasha

(Encyclopedia)Ibrahim Pasha ēbrähēmˈ päˈshä [key], 1789–1848, Egyptian general. He was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, governor of Egypt under the Ottoman Empire. Ibrahim conducted (1816–19) largely succ...

curare

(Encyclopedia)curare kyo͝orärˈē [key], any of a variety of substances originally used as arrow poisons by Native South Americans in hunting and in warfare. The main active substance of curare, tubocurarine, is ...

Chouans

(Encyclopedia)Chouans sho͞oˈənz, Fr. shwäN [key] [Norman Fr.,=owls], peasants of W France who rose against the French Revolutionary government in 1793. One of their first leaders was Jean Cottereau, traditional...

Sennett, Mack

(Encyclopedia)Sennett, Mack sĕnˈĭt [key], 1884–1960, American movie director and producer, b. Danville, Que. In 1909 he began working for D. W. Griffith at the Biograph Company, and in 1912 he organized his ow...

Samnites

(Encyclopedia)Samnites sămˈnīts [key], people of ancient Italy. Their country was Samnium. The Samnites were Oscan-speaking and therefore should be included among the Sabelli. The Tabula Agnonensis, a bronze tab...