Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Agatha, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Agatha, Saint ăgˈəthə [key], 3d cent., Sicilian virgin, martyred under Roman Emperor Decius. She is mentioned in the Martyrology of Jerome and the Calendar of Carthage in the 6th cent. Agatha is i...

Hermitage, estate, United States

(Encyclopedia)Hermitage: see Jackson, Andrew.

Carnegie Corporation of New York

(Encyclopedia)Carnegie Corporation of New York, foundation established (1911) to administer Andrew Carnegie's remaining personal fortune for philanthropic purposes. Initially endowed with $125 million, the foundati...

Volstead Act

(Encyclopedia)Volstead Act: see under Volstead, Andrew Joseph. ...

sackbut

(Encyclopedia)sackbut săkˈbət [key], Renaissance name for the slide trombone, probably derived from the old French word sacqueboute, which means “pull-push.” The instrument achieved its present form in the 1...

Porcupine, river, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Porcupine pôrˈkyəpīnˌ [key], river, 448 mi (721 km) long, rising in the Ogilvie Mts., NW Yukon, Canada. It flows in a great arc NE through the Eagle Plain, then W into Alaska and to the Yukon Riv...

Louis I, king of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Louis I or Louis the Great, 1326–82, king of Hungary (1342–82) and of Poland (1370–82). He succeeded his father, Charles I, in Hungary, and his uncle, Casimir III, in Poland. He continued the in...

Belluno

(Encyclopedia)Belluno bĕl-lo͞oˈnō [key], city, capital of Belluno prov., Venetia, NE Italy, on the Piave ...

Angelus, prayer

(Encyclopedia)Angelus [Lat.,=angel], daily prayer of the Roman Catholic Church, said usually three times daily, as announced by a bell, traditionally at six in the morning, at noon, and at six in the evening. It is...

Judenburg

(Encyclopedia)Judenburg yo͞oˈdənbo͝orkh [key], city (1991 pop. 9,684), Styria prov., S central Austria, on the Mur River. It is an industrial city and winter sports center. Originally a settlement along a Roman...