Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Connellsville

(Encyclopedia)Connellsville kŏnˈəlzvĭlˌ [key], city (2020 pop. 7,031), Fayette co., SW Pa., on the Youghiogheny ...

Ferguson, Sir Alex

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, Sir Alex (Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson), 1941–, Scottish soccer player and manager. He entered the full-time professional game in 1964, playing for Dunfermline Athletic; he played (1957...

Hindu Kush

(Encyclopedia)Hindu Kush hĭnˈdo͞o ko͝osh [key], a high mountain system, extending c.500 mi (800 km) W from the Pamir Knot, N Pakistan, into NE Afghanistan; rising to 25,236 ft (7,692 m) in Tirich Mir, on the bo...

Annapolis Convention

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York...

Gordium

(Encyclopedia)Gordium gôrˈdēəm [key], ancient city of Asia Minor, in Phrygia and later Galatia, now in Turkey, 50 mi (80 km) SW of Ankara. It was the capital of Phrygia from c.1000 to 800 b.c. Excavations condu...

Grant, Cary

(Encyclopedia)Grant, Cary, 1904–86, British movie actor, b. Bristol as Archibald Alexander Leach. He began on stage in 1923 and made his first film in 1932. An almost immediate hit, Grant was a leading star until...

Altdorfer, Albrecht

(Encyclopedia)Altdorfer, Albrecht älˈbrĕkht ältdôrˈfər [key], 1480–1538, German painter and engraver. He served as city architect of Regensburg, where much of his life was spent. Although influenced by Dü...

McHenry, James

(Encyclopedia)McHenry, James, 1753–1816, American political leader, b. Ireland. He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1771 and, after studying medicine under Benjamin Rush, served as a surgeon in the Continental Army i...

Kotzebue, August von

(Encyclopedia)Kotzebue, August von ouˈgo͝ost fən kôtˈsəbo͞o [key], 1761–1819, German dramatist and politician. He wrote some 200 plays, including Menschenhass und Reue (1789, tr. The Stranger, 1798), Die S...

William II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)William II (William the Good), c.1153–1189, king of Sicily (1166–89), son and successor of William I. He married (1177) Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. As an ally of Pope Alexander III and ...

Browse by Subject