Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

dog days

(Encyclopedia)dog days, name for the most sultry period of summer, from about July 3 to Aug. 11. Named in early times by observers in countries bordering the Mediterranean, the period was reckoned as extending from...

dog

(Encyclopedia)CE5 General anatomy of a dog dog, carnivorous, domesticated wolf (Canis lupus familiaris) of the family Canidae, to which the jackal, fox, and tanuki also belong. The family Canidae is sometimes r...

Hundred Days

(Encyclopedia)Hundred Days, name given to the period after the return of the deposed French emperor, Napoleon I, from Elba. The Hundred Days are counted from Mar. 20, 1815, when Napoleon arrived in Paris, to June 2...

June Days

(Encyclopedia)June Days, in French history, name usually given to the insurrection of workers in June, 1848. The working classes had played an important role in the February Revolution of 1848, but their hopes for ...

ember days

(Encyclopedia)ember days, in the Western Church, traditionally the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday following the first Sunday in Lent; Whitsunday; Sept. 14 (Exaltation of the Cross); and Dec. 13 (St. Lucy's Day). T...

Rogation Days

(Encyclopedia)Rogation Days, in the calendar of the Western Church, four days traditionally set apart for solemn processions to invoke God's mercy. They are Apr. 25, the Major Rogation, coinciding with St. Mark's D...

guide dog

(Encyclopedia)guide dog, a dog trained to lead a blind person. The first school for training such dogs was established by the German government after World War I for the benefit of blinded veterans. Schools now exi...

dog racing

(Encyclopedia)dog racing, trials of speed between dogs. Now contested on oval tracks, the sport developed from the ancient practice of coursing, in which specially trained dogs chase game animals in the open field....