Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

453 results found

existentialism

(Encyclopedia)existentialism ĕgzĭstĕnˈshəlĭzəm, ĕksĭ– [key], any of several philosophic systems, all centered on the individual and his relationship to the universe or to God. Important existentialists o...

Francis de Sales, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis de Sales, Saint, 1567–1622, French Roman Catholic preacher, Doctor of the Church, and key figure in the Counter Reformation in France. He was a member of an aristocratic family of Savoy and ...

Adolf of Nassau

(Encyclopedia)Adolf of Nassau näˈsou [key], d. 1298, duke of Luxembourg, German king (1292–98). He owed his election to the ecclesiastical electors, who, fearing the growing power and ambition of the Hapsburgs,...

Murchison Falls

(Encyclopedia)Murchison Falls, rapids on the lower Victoria Nile River, NW Uganda, 22 mi (35 km) E of Lake Albert (see Albert, Lake). The river, narrowing to about 20 ft (6 m) wide, flows through precipitously clef...

Victoria Nile

(Encyclopedia)Victoria Nile, river, section of the White Nile, c.260 mi (420 km) long, central Uganda, E central Africa. It drains from the northern end of Lake Victoria (see Victoria, Lake) at Jinja and flows gene...

Philippe

(Encyclopedia)Philippe, 1960–, king of the Belgians (2013–). Eldest son of Albert II, he was educated at the Belgian Royal Military Academy, Oxford, and Stanford. Philippe married Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz in 19...

Tourcoing

(Encyclopedia)Tourcoing to͞orkwăNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 94,424), Nord dept., N France, in French Flanders. With the adjacent city of Roubaix, it forms one of the most important textile centers of France. In 14...

Baker, Sir Samuel White

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Sir Samuel White, 1821–93, English explorer in Africa. He explored the Nile tributaries in Ethiopia in 1861–62. Going up the Nile from Cairo, he reached Gondokoro in 1863. He continued his ...

Rudolf I

(Encyclopedia)Rudolf I or Rudolf of Hapsburg ro͞oˈdŏlf [key], 1218–91, German king (1273–91), first king of the Hapsburg dynasty. Rudolf's election as king ended the interregnum (1250–73), during which tim...

Browse by Subject