Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Michael III, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Michael III (Michael the Amorian or Phrygian), 836–67, Byzantine emperor (842–67), son and successor of Theophilus and grandson of Michael II. His minority saw the final overthrow of iconoclasm an...

Tarascan

(Encyclopedia)Tarascan təräˈskən [key], Native Americans of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. Their language has no known relation to other languages, and their history prior to the 16th cent. is poorly understo...

Urban VIII

(Encyclopedia)Urban VIII, 1568–1644, pope (1623–44), a Florentine named Maffeo Barberini; successor of Gregory XV. Throughout his pontificate the Thirty Years War raged in Germany. For various political reasons...

Arafat, Yasir

(Encyclopedia)Arafat, Yasir or Yasser yäsērˈ ärˈäfät; –sər [key], 1929–2004, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the coordinating body for Palestinian organizations, and head of Al Fa...

solar time

(Encyclopedia)solar time, time defined by the position of the sun. The solar day is the time it takes for the sun to return to the same meridian in the sky. Local solar time is measured by a sundial. When the cente...

Adventists

(Encyclopedia)Adventists ădˈvĕnˌtĭsts [key] [advent, Lat.,=coming], members of a group of related religious denominations whose distinctive doctrine centers in their belief concerning the imminent second comin...

imam

(Encyclopedia)imam ĭmämˈ [key] [Arab.,=leader], in Islam, a recognized leader or a religious teacher. Among the Sunni the term refers to the leader in the Friday prayer at the mosque; any pious Muslim may functi...

Alfonso V, Spanish king of León

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V (Alfonso the Noble), 994?–1027, Spanish king of León (999–1027). While he was still a minor, the Moorish ruler al-Mansur died, and the Spanish court recovered the city of León. Alfonso...

Libyan Desert

(Encyclopedia)Libyan Desert, northeast part of the Sahara Desert, NE Africa, in SW Egypt, E Libya, and NW Sudan; called the Western Desert in Egypt. It is a region of sand dunes, stony plains, and rocky plateaus. T...

Idrisids

(Encyclopedia)Idrisids ĭdˈrĭsĭdzˌ [key], two historic Muslim families. 1 An Arab Shiite dynasty of Morocco (788–974), founded by Idris I, a descendant of caliph Ali. It was the first Shiite dynasty in the hi...