Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Sturdee, Sir Frederick Charles Doveton

(Encyclopedia)Sturdee, Sir Frederick Charles Doveton stûrˈdē [key], 1859–1925, British admiral. He entered the navy in 1871 and rose to become (1914) chief of war staff at the admiralty on the outbreak of Worl...

Villeneuve, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Villeneuve, Pierre de pyĕr də vēlnövˈ [key], 1763–1806, French admiral. He commanded the rear guard of the fleet in the disastrous battle of Abu Qir (1798). His defeat at the battle of Trafalga...

Bagrationovsk

(Encyclopedia)Bagrationovsk bəgrŭˌtyēôˈnəfsk [key], town, NW European Russia, formerly in East Prussia, on the Polish border. Its German name was Eylau or Preussisch Eylau. It is a rail terminus and has meat...

Springsteen, Bruce Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Springsteen, Bruce Frederick, 1949–, American singer, guitarist, and songwriter, nicknamed “The Boss,” b. Long Branch, N.J. Springsteen established himself as a singer and songwriter, as well as...

George Junior Republic

(Encyclopedia)George Junior Republic, any of several communities founded by the American philanthropist William Reuben George (1866–1936) for neglected and maladjusted adolescents. The first (1895) was at Freevil...

plagues of Egypt

(Encyclopedia)plagues of Egypt, in the Bible, the plagues and other troubles brought on Egypt by God through the hands of Moses, because Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go out of Egypt. The account, in t...

center of mass

(Encyclopedia)center of mass, the point at which all the mass of a body may be considered to be concentrated in analyzing its motion. The center of mass of a sphere of uniform density coincides with the center of t...

Lee, Robert Edward

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Robert Edward, 1807–70, general in chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, b. Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford, Westmoreland co., Va.; son of Henry (“Light-Horse Harry”) Lee. ...

York, house of

(Encyclopedia)York, house of, royal house of England, deriving its name from the creation of Edmund of Langley, fifth son of Edward III, as duke of York in 1385. The claims to the throne of Edmund's grandson, Richa...

conflict of laws

(Encyclopedia)conflict of laws, that part of the law in each state, country, or other jurisdiction that determines whether, in dealing with a particular legal situation, its law or the law of some other jurisdictio...