Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

Solihull

(Encyclopedia)Solihull sōlĭhŭlˈ [key], metropolitan borough (1991 pop. 195,100), central England, mainly a residential suburb of Birmingham. Automobiles, chemicals, and tools are manufactured. The 13th-century ...

Segonzac, André Dunoyer de

(Encyclopedia)Segonzac, André Dunoyer de äNdrāˈ dünwäyāˈ də səgôNzäkˈ [key], 1884–1974, French painter and graphic artist. Segonzac was a member of the group known as the section d'or, which stressed...

photostat

(Encyclopedia)photostat fōˈtəstătˌ [key], reproduction of any printed or simple black-and-white material, such as drawings or manuscripts, made by the Photostat, a photographic camera. While slower and more ex...

Prilep

(Encyclopedia)Prilep prēˈlĕp [key], city (1994 pop. 71,899), North Macedonia. It is the trade center of an agricultural region and a manufacturing city where tobacco, textiles, wine, and fruit are produced. Pril...

Pendelikón

(Encyclopedia)Pendelikón pĕntĕˈlĭkəs [key], mountain, c.3,670 ft (1,120 m) high, central Greece, NE of Athens. The white marble quarried there was used for many buildings of ancient Athens. Marble is still ta...

Australian languages

(Encyclopedia)Australian languages, aboriginal languages spoken on the continent of Australia. The Australian languages do not appear to be related to any other linguistic family. The exact number of these language...

reaper

(Encyclopedia)reaper, early farm machine drawn by draft animals or tractor and used to harvest grain. Its historical predecessors were the sickle and the cradle scythe, which are still used in some parts of the wor...

stonework

(Encyclopedia)stonework, term applied to various types of work—that of the lapidary who shapes, cuts, and polishes gemstones or engraves them for seals and ornaments; of the jeweler or artisan who mounts or encru...

truck

(Encyclopedia)truck, automotive vehicle designed primarily for the transportation of goods. A truck is constructed on the general lines of the automobile but uses larger and heavier parts. It may be powered by a ga...