Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

sidereal day

(Encyclopedia)sidereal day: see sidereal time. ...

Canada Day

(Encyclopedia)Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day, Canadian national holiday, celebrated July 1. It is the anniversary of the uniting in 1867 of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the dominion ...

Veterans' Day

(Encyclopedia)Veterans' Day, holiday formerly observed in the United States as Armistice Day in commemoration of the signing of the Armistice ending World War I. Nov. 11 officially became Veterans' Day on May 24, 1...

morris dance

(Encyclopedia)morris dance or morrice dance, rustic dance of the north of England that had its origin in country festivals, such as those of May Day and Whitsunday. Reference to it in English literature is made as ...

court jester

(Encyclopedia)court jester: see fool.

clown

(Encyclopedia)clown, a comic character usually distinguished by garish makeup and costume whose antics are both humorously clumsy and acrobatic. The clown employs a broad, physical style of humor that is wordless o...

eight-hour day

(Encyclopedia)eight-hour day: see labor law.

All Souls' Day

(Encyclopedia)All Souls' Day, Nov. 2 (exceptionally, Nov. 3), feast of the Roman Catholic Church on which the church on earth prays for the souls of the faithful departed still suffering in purgatory. The proper of...

All Saints' Day

(Encyclopedia)All Saints' Day, feast of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and day on which churches glorify God for all God's saints, known and unknown. It is celebrated on Nov. 1 in the West, since Pope Gr...

Day, Benjamin Henry

(Encyclopedia)Day, Benjamin Henry, 1810–89, American journalist. He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Springfield (Mass.) Republican and opened a printing office in New York City. Lack of work duri...