Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Godfrey of Bouillon

(Encyclopedia)Godfrey of Bouillon bo͞oyôNˈ [key], c.1058–1100, Crusader, duke of Lower Lorraine. He fought for Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV against Pope Gregory VII and against Rudolf of Swabia and was rewarded...

arachnid

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Internal anatomy of a spider, representative of the class Arachnida arachnid ərăkˈnĭd [key], mainly terrestrial arthropod of the class Arachnida, including the spider, scorpion, mite, tick...

Achaemenids

(Encyclopedia)Achaemenids ăkˌəmĕnˈĭdz [key], dynasty of ancient Persia. They were descended presumably from one Achaemenes, a minor ruler in a mountainous district of SW Iran. His successors, when Elam declin...

Mithra

(Encyclopedia)Mithra mĭthˈrə [key], ancient god of Persia and India (where he was called Mitra). Until the 6th cent. b.c., Mithra was apparently a minor figure in the Zoroastrian system. Under the Achaemenids, M...

Malaspina, Alejandro

(Encyclopedia)Malaspina, Alejandro or Alessandro älāhänˈdrō mäläspēˈnä; älās-sänˈdrō [key], 1754–1810, Italian-Spanish naval officer and explorer, b. Mulazzo, Italy. From a minor N Italian noble fa...

lettuce

(Encyclopedia)lettuce, annual garden plant (Lactuca sativa and varieties) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), probably native to the East Indies or Asia Minor, possibly as a derivative of the widespread weed c...

man-o'-war bird

(Encyclopedia)man-o'-war bird or frigate-bird, most aerial of the water birds, found in the tropic seas. The man-o'-war bird's wingspread (71⁄2 ft/228.5 cm) is the largest in proportion to its body (3–4 lb/1.4�...

Assyrian art

(Encyclopedia)Assyrian art. An Assyrian artistic style distinct from that of Babylonian art (see Sumerian and Babylonian art), which was the dominant contemporary art in Mesopotamia, began to emerge c.1500 b.c. and...

Kellogg, Frank Billings

(Encyclopedia)Kellogg, Frank Billings, 1856–1937, American lawyer, U.S. senator (1917–23), and cabinet member, b. Potsdam, N.Y. As a child, he moved to Olmstead co., Minn. He later studied law and held several ...

Leo III, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo III (Leo the Isaurian or Leo the Syrian), c.680–741, Byzantine emperor (717–41). He was probably born in N Syria (rather than in Isauria, as once thought). He held diplomatic and military post...