Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

76 results found

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...

Diwali

(Encyclopedia)Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs; one of the most popular holidays in South Asia. Extending over five days, it marks the beginning of the new year in the Vikrama ...

Hanukkah

(Encyclopedia)Hanukkah khäˈnəkə, –no͝okä [key], in Judaism, the Festival of Lights, the Feast of Consecration, or the Feast of the Maccabees; also transliterated Chanukah. According to tradition, it was ins...

San Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)San Jacinto, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in SE Texas as the West Fork and flowing S to Galveston Bay. Its chief tributary is Buffalo Bayou, and both the bayou and the lower river are used fo...

Orangemen

(Encyclopedia)Orangemen, members of the Loyal Orange Institution, familiarly called the Orange Order, a Protestant Irish society founded and flourishing mainly in Ulster. It was established (1795) to maintain the P...

liturgy, Jewish

(Encyclopedia)liturgy, Jewish, rites, observances, and procedures of Judaism. Communal prayer, with a quorum of ten men (or in some modern communities, ten people), replaced the priests of the Temple cult. There ar...

King, Coretta Scott

(Encyclopedia)King, Coretta Scott, 1927–2006, American civil-rights leader, b. Heiberger, Ala.; the wife (1953–68) of Martin Luther King, Jr. After her husband's assassination, she carried on his civil-rights w...

National Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), Washington, D.C., founded in 1931 by Hans Kindler, who conducted the orchestra until 1949. Its first home was Constitution Hall; since 1986 it has been affiliated wi...

Bastille

(Encyclopedia)Bastille băstēlˈ [key] [O.Fr.,=fortress], fortress and state prison in Paris, located, until its demolition (started in 1789), near the site of the present Place de la Bastille. It was begun c.1369...

Tati, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Tati, Jacques zhäk tätēˈ [key], 1907–82, French film writer, director, and actor, b. Jacques Tatischeff. As a semiprofessional rugby player, he entertained his teammates with physical, nonverbal...

Browse by Subject